Værøy municipality in Lofoten – known for its limestone-white beaches with azure waters and majestic rock formations.
Now something completely different steals the spotlight: a stench wafts up the shore.
Asbjørn Myklebust says: The 72-year-old is a permanent resident of the island municipality, where he also has a holiday home. It is in the latter place that the idyll is now broken – following the expulsion from the newly started fish oil industry.
– According to the factory, a zero-emission factory should have no smell and discharge into the water, but now it has happened twice, says Myklebust Dagbladet.
It was Nordland Newspaper He was the first to report the smell.
Reactions: Myklebust describes a terrible stench. Here he is pictured at home, in the fresh Nordic air. Photo: Private
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– Foul-smelling porridge
Myklebust describes the discharge as a greasy, yellowish-white mush. The stench must be absolutely intense.
– At first it smelled so bad you just wanted to vomit, says the northerner.
He considers himself lucky that he only has a vacation home in the area of the spill, so he has another place to stay when the smell is at its worst.
– but there are three houses with permanent residents, he says, which is sad, and describes how the neighbors have to close their windows to escape the terrible smell.
– Can you describe what it smells like?
– You don’t understand how bad it is. It may smell like rotten cod liver oil.
Come up from the gutter
– Only pure fish oil
The 72-year-old believes the factory has shown little interest in cleaning itself up, but says crews have now arrived to clean up the spill.
Avisa Nordland has contacted Tommy Torvanger, President of Lofoten Biomarine AS.
– It’s not good at all. Currently, the plant is in the final stages of commissioning and completion. We discovered that something went wrong with how things were connected. It was the most recent evacuation that helped us spot the bug, he explains to the newspaper.
Dorwanger says they stopped all production and removed everything after learning about the leak.
– Fortunately, only pure fish oil has come out, so there is no harm to animal and bird species, the head of the board tells the newspaper.
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