We live next to a former landfill site and feel like prisoners in our own homes: Residents at ‘breaking point’ after fires send ash raining down on gardens and wafting ‘rancid’ smells into their properties

Residents living near a former landfill site feel like ‘prisoners’ in their own homes after summer fires regularly ‘rain’ ash on their houses.

Locals fear a ‘health crisis’ is developing in parts of Rainham, Essex, where homeowners are greeted by ‘rancid’ smells as they leave for work in the morning.

An estimated ‘30,000 to 40,000 cubic metres’ of unregulated waste was dumped at Arnold’s Field, in Launders Lane, more than a decade ago.

The ongoing fires at the site have left local residents at their wits’ end and feeling that the air quality – and their health – is only getting worse.

Christine Read says she feels ‘like a prisoner’ in her own home because of the waste

The former foster mother has lived in Rainham for three years. When she moved from Dagenham to be with her son, she worked outside ‘constantly’ for a year, helping to tidy up the garden.

About 18 months later, Christine was diagnosed with lung cancer and her dog has since been diagnosed with lung cancer as well.

Christine had to put her pet to sleep, which she found “absolutely horrible.”

She said, “Since then my son feels so guilty [for moving them].

“And I feel like I’m just sitting here waiting to die.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported last year that Havering Council had been warned about the “potential risks to human health” from Arnold’s Field for more than 12 years after an investigation at the site found evidence of substances including lead and benzo(a)pyrene – a major group of carcinogens.

The latest update from the council is that findings based on NHS data will be published in the ‘near future’ to find out whether residents experience breathing problems during or immediately after a fire.

Havering Council was warned of the ‘potential risks to human health’ more than 12 years ago

Havering City Council recently published a health impact report comparing the incidence of cancer among residents of the Arnold’s Field area with that of residents of Havering or England as a whole.

The report found that rates of lung cancer, brain tumours and haematological cancers (such as leukaemia) among residents in the Launders Lane area were similar to those in Havering as a whole. However, the data analysed only went back to 2020.

A poll on the Launders Lane Crisis Facebook group in late July this year found that more than half of residents in the area were suffering from sore throats and runny noses because of the landfill. A smaller health survey of residents conducted in August found that 94 percent were experiencing these symptoms.

Pauline Claridge, who lives in Eastwood Drive, about a mile from Launders Lane, says she is “fed up”.

She said: ‘The last three weeks I’ve been in tears, it’s just unbearable.

“It’s hot, you have to close your windows and turn on a fan to stay cool. The smell is rancid, it’s really awful.”

The 70-year-old suffers from COPD, a lung disease that causes breathing problems. She says her doctor recently increased her medication so she doesn’t have to “call an ambulance” all the time.

‘[The air pollution] ‘didn’t cause my COPD, but it sure as hell doesn’t help,’ Pauline said. ‘It makes it worse. Living here shortens my life.

“I’m just really tearful and drunk all the time. I don’t enjoy my own home anymore.”

Catherine Newton, an administrator of the Launders Lane Crisis Facebook group, said: ‘People have had enough and people are very angry. You can’t blame them.

“It’s like living in a radioactive Chernobyl zone.”

Some neighbors have compared their experience to ‘living in a Chernobyl zone’

Responding to the view that the council is not doing enough, Councillor Gillian Ford, deputy leader of the council, said: “We fully understand and sympathise with the concerns of residents.

‘We continue to urge the landowner to take more urgent action and recently held a meeting between the landowner, London Fire Brigade and other experts, together with a representative of the residents. We wanted to explore what short- and medium-term measures could be taken to reduce the number and impact of fires.’

The council has previously stated that a statutory nuisance notice and a community protection warning have been issued to DMC (Essex) Limited, owner of the Arnold’s Field estate.

However, the company has appealed the notice of reduction and the authority has said it is awaiting a date for the case to be heard in court.

Jerry O’Donovan, co-owner of DMC (Essex) Limited, told the LDRS last year that his company takes its responsibilities “very seriously” and claimed he has been “in discussions” with Havering Council for a number of years.