For years, residents of the village of Hryada in the Lviv region have been suffering from the unbearable stench emanating from a local pig farm. Residents claim that the distance between the farm and residential areas is not as stated, and that although the farm promised to install treatment facilities, it has so far done nothing. Consequently, the dispute has moved to the courts.
This was reported by the media outlet ‘Suspilne Lviv’.
The stench persists day and night
The dispute between the farm and local residents has been ongoing since 2019. Residents complain of a constant stench. According to them, the documents state the distance to the houses is 500 metres, but in reality it is only about 250 metres.
“The farm managers kept saying everything was fine, claiming they had treatment facilities. They said they would build them if necessary. But there’s still nothing. There is no way for people and children to breathe clean air,” said Natalia Demchyshyn, head of the public organisation “Mervychanka,” in an interview with journalists.
According to her, the smell is at its worst when the farm drains manure, mixes it with water, and transports it to the fields, supposedly to fertilise the soil. She noted that these operations are usually performed at night.
Journalists at "Suspilne" tried to obtain a comment from the director of the agricultural enterprise and also sent a journalistic inquiry. The first request was refused, while the second received no response.
Legal dispute
The court case has been underway since 2022. Residents of Hriada filed a lawsuit against the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection. The reason was its decision, which enabled the sanitary protection zone to be halved.
“Since they approved the conclusion of the state sanitary-epidemiological examination relating to the Hriada pig farm, an agro-industrial enterprise (AIE), granting permission to reduce the sanitary protection zone from 500 m to 250 m. In reality, the turnover of pigs at the farm is about 30,000, not 12,000 as claimed by AIE ‘Hriada’ in its documents,” said Olga Melen-Zabramna, the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
Environmental inspection
Representatives of the State Environmental Inspectorate in Lviv region visited “Hriada” for an inspection at the end of June.
Deputy Head of the Inspectorate Vasyl Stryshchak reported that a violation was discovered. This concerned the depressurisation of the lagoon where manure is stored. Company officials were fined for this and received an order to remedy the situation. Overall, the farm does have an emissions permit.
A similar situation is occurring in Ivano-Frankivsk region. EcoPolitic had previously reported that the unbearable stench of rotting meat from a local meat processing plant has made life uncomfortable for residents of the city of Tlumach for years.
