That smell is fish food

New residents of Stavanger often wonder what is that smell?

That lingering odour can best be described as smelling like a hefty dose of purina  wet cat food mixed with møller cod liver oil. The resulting stink is unpleasant on good days, and downright unbearable on others.  Emissions and wind levels are key factors in determining how strong it will be in the city.

Stavanger locals refer to the “Hillevåglukta”, or Hillevag odor. It is a fact of life for residents on Storhaug, Hillevåg, and even Tjensvoll, Hommersåk and Våland.

Locals say that the worse the stink, the better the weather will be the next day (Norwegians are forever looking at the positive side of things!) However my casual, non-scientific, experience-only based study has shown this not to be the case. If it were we would be in a real warm, dry spell in Rogaland!

Hillevåg has long been a repository of smells. It has historically been a popular location for factories, and manufacturing industries in the region. A local comedian explains more in his comedy, “Smell is Life“.

Skretting

The culprit is the Skretting AS factory, which produces fish food for Norwegian fish farms. They are also providing feed to the vastly growing global fish farm markets. Life is good for this industry. I understand they also make pet food.

The Felleskjøpet Rogaland Agder is also in the same area, and produces feed for animals that can cause a smell – a different kind of smell from Skretting – as well.

fish food pellets

So what is in the air then?

Fish body parts, vegetable and fish oils and peas, among other ingredients. Vegetarians beware!

Local News

Most cities have some form of industry, and no one is saying this should not be the case. People just want the emission laws to be respected.

Problems with smelly emissions from the Skretting fish food factory make frequent appearances in the papers, such as the Aftenbladet (2006) and the Rogalands Avis (2007). Some of what is written does not look good for the factory or the local authorites that oversee air pollution standards. The most recent article reports emission odors of 15 odor units being discharged. The permitted limit is seven.

Recourse for the affected?

The comments section of one of the Aftenbladet articles suggests that readers have been promised improvments in the air quality for over twenty years with only intermittent improvement. Many claim that the past year has seen the worst of the smells.

An outside firm has been monitoring the emissions since 2008. Their results leave room for worry, and the manager of Stavanger’s municipal board of living, Per A. Thorbjørnsen, has repeatedly voiced his disapproval of the situation. He has gone as far as to propose setting up a hotline where residents can call and complain about smells emitting from the factory. It is unclear if such a hotline would impact the emissions or smells, but it would make it much easier for residents to navigate the political system that makes it difficult to know where to lodge a complaint and feel that they are being heard.

Skretting, for their part, have advised the authorites and the Aftenbladet that they are doing all they can to control the smell. We’ve heard this before.

Speak out and be heard!

The emissions became worse last year after Skretting was granted an increase in their allowance so long as they comply with environmental standards. Documents show the acceptance of their application is conditional to the being within the allowed limits, which means that the standard they must follow – emissions of odor to which must at no time exceed 7 LE/Nm3 – has been violated.

Has the excessive pollution bothered you?

If so, let the “powers that be” know how you feel. Without hearing from the public it will never be a priority issue for the city. It is not easy to find the right person or department to deal with as responsibility is shared by the Fylkesmannen, Police and Commune, but there are some quick emails you can send. If everyone affected by the odour lodges a complaint, that public pressure would most certainly increase the political will to enforce the existing laws.

The fact of the matter is that the Skretting Factory is allowed, by law, to emit  7 odor units per cubic meter air. They have been found to be emitting 15 odor units per cubic meter, yet the only trouble they find themselves in is a few newspaper debates and discussions within the Fylkemannen.

BATS

If that was not enough, Skretting AS is also a so-called IPPC-sector *company, which means that they have a duty to use of “best available techniques”, making every effort to limit their emissions below what is allowed. They are failing on the odor  fronts to do that, and the authorites have not forced them to stay within limits.

The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment’s Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) is the directorate responsible for the implementation of EU law on pollution into Norwegian law. Their website states that the SFT administers and enforces pollution, provides permits, requirements and limits for the discharge, and supervises that the requirements are complied with.

Fylkesmannen i Rogaland is the regulator for the pollution emitted by factories in Stavanger. I was advised that they do not have much enforcement authority, however. According to sources in the department, the political will to enforce rules on one of the largest and most important firms in the region is very low. If you would like to reach them to complain, and complaints do help, email the case manager at johan.tore.rodland@fmro.no You may write in English or Norwegian.

The Stavanger Kommune also shares some responsibility in this, as they have the power to enforce regulations through fines and other punative measures. Anyone who wants access to environmental information, from private individuals, non-governmental organizations and industry may contact the Commune here.  It is a service paid for by your taxes, and no additional fees are charged.

Latest news

The latest idea Skretting has is to build their burn pipe higher. Much higher. So high that the smell would bathe the rest of the city in its delicious brew.

The technical director of Skretting has said that with the coming high season,  they will be ramping up production, with the factory running from Sunday evening to Saturday afternoon.

There is no talk of the authorities reeling the company in to existing pollution limits. The outcome as it stands now remains… fishy.