Council threatens legal action against Southern Water
Legal action has been threatened against Southern Water if it does not quickly resolve a long-running odour problem from a seafront wastewater treatment works.
Eastbourne Borough Council said it has served a formal notice on Southern Water under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The move would seem to bring matters to a head after opposition Conservative councillors increased pressure this week on the privatised company to solve the problem.
Residents near the company's Eastbourne Treatment Works at Langney Point have complained for months of a stench.
Southern Water has acknowleged there are problems in odour control units at the works, known locally as 'Poo Castle'.
The council said in a statement today that it served the formal notice on Wednesday, August 27.
What Eastbourne Borough Council says
A spokesman said: "This notice is a legal instrument that requires Southern Water to immediately abate the odour and to take all necessary measures to prevent any future recurrence.
"It is totally unacceptable for Southern Water to allow this situation to continue.
"Unless Southern Water quickly resolves this issue, we will consider further legal action."
People living nearby say the smell affects their daily lives, preventing them from using gardens, drying clothes outside or opening windows.
What the Conservative council opposition says
Cllr Kshama Shore, who represents Sovereign ward in the area, said yesterday there have been "at least three breaches of odour from the above plant in the last three days, but the local residents know this is a recurring pattern".
She said the foul odour was a “statutory nuisance” under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and suggested that an abatement notice should have been served months ago.
Cllr Shore also said that Southern Water was not keeping residents informed about what was happening. She shared an email she received from the company on social media.
What Southern Water says
A Southern Water spokesperson sent the following statement to the Eastbourne Reporter: “We are sorry that residents are experiencing odour problems in this area. We recently met with the local community to listen to their concerns and explain the causes, and the actions we are taking.
"We have brought four special odour control units fully online, and are carrying out a deep clean of this technology over the coming weeks.
"Our teams are doing this as quickly as they can, but have been delayed slightly due to repairs needed as a result of the recent fire [an electrical fault caused a small fire on August 24].
"We will continue to update residents on what we are doing to tackle this issue."
The email from the company to Cllr Shore said:
“I’m writing to update you on the progress of work at Eastbourne Treatment Works to bring the odour control system back into service, and to make repairs following last week’s fire.
"We've been working towards our target of bringing four out of five odour control units fully online by the end of August.
"These units are now working and recirculating air. However, we’ve discovered that the elements in the units which help remove hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from the air are in a worse condition than originally thought.
"These units are sealed and underground so are difficult to fully inspect, but for a proper, lasting solution, they need to be deep cleaned using hydrochloric acid.
"Our suppliers initially told us this acid would take six weeks to deliver. To speed up the work, the team are working hard to identify alternative supplies so we can start the deep clean sooner, with a target to start within three weeks.
"The deep clean will then be done in stages to assess the effectiveness of each stage, and how much further work will be needed. We estimate that, in the worst case, this will mean a delay in completing the work of six to ten weeks.
"We’re very sorry for this unforeseen additional delay and we’re doing all we can to get the work done as fast as possible.
"We’re also starting to repair the damage to our aeration system caused by the fire, which means we must reduce the amount of gas in the lowest part of the works to ensure a safe working environment for our staff and contractors. We’ve introduced extra fans to clear the gas as quickly as possible.
"Some residents may experience intermittent periods of increased odour because of this repair work until we can bring odour control back online. We’re sorry if that causes any additional inconvenience.
"Is this a risk to health? No. According to government guidance, H2S gas quickly evaporates in open air, and our own environmental monitoring shows that even when odour is strong, the levels of H2S gas at the perimeter of the works falls below the threshold at which health might be impacted.
"H2S can be dangerous in confined spaces; that’s why we need to extract it from the works itself, so our teams can work safely.
"Once again, I apologise, and want to thank you for your understanding as our teams work to fix the Eastbourne Treatment Works and resolve the odour problem for the local community.”
What does the MP say?
Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, Josh Babarinde, raised the issue in the House of Commons last week.
He accused Southern Water of failing to listen to residents' concerns and said they must "get a grip" of the foul stench.
He told MPs: "We need Southern Water to fix this now."
