Extra £3.5m may be spent on stopping sewage plant stench

Yorkshire Water has secured approval from the regulator Ofwat to spend the money on measures to control smells at the Saltend waste treatment plant, which it is hoped will finally put a stop to the problem.

For years people have been complaining about the smell from the plant which locals were promised would be "odour-free" when it opened eight years ago.

The company has since put in millions of pounds of improvements, but the problem has persisted.

A new report to the East Riding Council's Cabinet says complaints have dropped "significantly" over the past 12 months, but it recommends a letter is sent telling Yorkshire Water that it could still take legal action.

The report states: "It is recommended that the council write a warning to Yorkshire Water formally notifying it of the findings of the report and of the council's reserved position with regard to the potential for the service of an abatement notice.

"It is suggested that this warning be used to negotiate an odour improvement schedule which because funding has been confirmed, should be within the company's capacity to deliver."

The first of more than 350 complaints from the public was made in 2001. Since then there have been a number of incidents including illegal discharges into the works and failures of equipment which have led to a "greater degree of odours being released."

The report says there is "no evidence" that smells from the plant are reaching Hedon or Preston "to the point that a statutory odour nuisance is being or likely to be caused".

It says there have been incidents of "offensive" smells on the site's boundary but these have been short-lived.

Since January this year there have been eight complaints – five times less than the preceding four months.

However Rick Sumner, chairman of pressure group East Yorkshire Eye, said the continued problem called into question the original design.

He said: "People have given up complaining because no one seems to be doing anything.

"We've called on the council in the past to threaten them with proceedings and they've just muttered and done nothing.

"This is needed to let people at last sit outside in their gardens in the summer, but it is appalling it has taken so long to make this investment."

Yorkshire Water said it was in the early stages of a project to combat the smells.

In a statement the company said: "We have already invested significantly in the Saltend site to reduce the risk of odours and this year we have had the lowest number of odour complaints thanks to the work we have done.

"However, we appreciate that any odour can be unpleasant so we will also be investing a further 3.5m at Saltend waste water treatment works to reduce the risk of odours and this has been confirmed and in place since April of this year.

"We are in the early stages of this investment having just appointed our contract partners Morgan Est who are currently undertaking a modelling and scoping project which will allow us to find the best solution for the site.

"We want to make sure that the work we do has a positive impact on odours so the modelling is crucial. This will take three months and we are due to be starting work at the end of the year."

East Riding Council said it would continue to monitor the situation.

Coun Jane Evison said: "We will continue to engage with Yorkshire Water to ensure they undertake the longer-term improvements as soon as possible."

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