Latest news with #odour
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Wellington Water warns Seaview stench could return during critical sewage treatment works
Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant. Photo: Supplied / Wellington Water Wellington Water is warning of the potential for increased odour at its Seaview sewage treatment plant due to critical works. The facility has been notorious in the local community for causing a smell which some described as being so bad it made them dry retch. The problem stemmed from the treatment plant's sludge dryer which removed water from the solid material left over in treated sewage before it was disposed. The dryer was near the end of its working life and required constant maintenance before it was replaced. Part of that work would start next week between 3 June and 17 June and would require the dryer to be shut down which could cause a stench. Wellington Water chief operating officer Charles Barker said that it was due to wet sludge being transported out of the facility and to a landfill rather than a dry material. "It is stickier more odorous stuff." Barker said the maintenance was to ensure the dryer remained operational while work was underway to get a new dryer in operation by the end of 2027. He said he expected the plant's smell not to be "that bad" and nothing like what was experienced by the community during summer. Local resident Chris Hetherington told RNZ the site was "just disgusting" at its worst. Hetherington said he had no problem with the plant it just had to operate within its consent. He said it was good that Wellington Water had told the community that if the smell got too bad it would bring the dryer back online. "Now the community is at the forefront of their decisions, so I do believe there has been a massive change." Barker acknowledged the community experienced an extended period of intense odour last summer and that it was right for them to be anxious about dryer work. In March RNZ reported that in December Wellington Water attempted to reprimand Seaview's operator - the Veolia multinational over the stench. Chief executive Pat Dougherty wrote to Veolia country director Emma Brand on 4 December, saying: "Wellington Water has not historically sought a financial penalty. "That historical practise will no longer be followed." The breaches at Seaview and several other plants were "significant and repeated", and every breach "amounts to a potential criminal offence", Dougherty said in the letter released to RNZ under the Official Information Act. "Contract penalty payments are likely to be enforced by Wellington Water in the future." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Wellington Water warns Seaview strench could return during critical sewage treatment works
Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant. Photo: Supplied / Wellington Water Wellington Water is warning of the potential for increased odour at its Seaview sewage treatment plant due to critical works. The facility has been notorious in the local community for causing smell which some described as being so bad it made them dry retch. The problem stemmed from the treatment plant's sludge dryer which removed water from the solid material left over in treated sewage before it was disposed. The dryer was near the end of its working life and required constant maintenance before it was replaced. Part of that work would start next week between 3 June and 17 June and would require the dryer to be shut down which could cause a stench. Wellington Water chief operating officer Charles Barker said that it was due to wet sludge being transported out of the facility and to a landfill rather than a dry material. "It is stickier more odorous stuff." Barker said the maintenance was to ensure the dryer remained operational while work was underway to get a new dryer in operation by the end of 2027. He said he expected the plant's smell not to be "that bad" and nothing like what was experienced by the community during summer. Local resident Chris Hetherington told RNZ the site was "just disgusting" at its worst. Hetherington said he had no problem with the plant it just had to operate within its consent. He said it was good that Wellington Water had told the community that if the smell got too bad it would bring the dryer back online. "Now the community is at the forefront of their decisions, so I do believe there has been a massive change." Barker acknowledged the community experienced an extended period of intense odour last summer and that it was right for them to be anxious about dryer work. In March RNZ reported that in December Wellington Water attempted to reprimand Seaview's operator - the Veolia multinational over the stench. Chief executive Pat Dougherty wrote to Veolia country director Emma Brand on 4 December, saying: "Wellington Water has not historically sought a financial penalty. "That historical practise will no longer be followed." The breaches at Seaview and several other plants were "significant and repeated", and every breach "amounts to a potential criminal offence", Dougherty said in the letter released to RNZ under the Official Information Act. "Contract penalty payments are likely to be enforced by Wellington Water in the future." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Stink not only from Fleetwood tip, say landfill operators Transwaste
The operators of the Fleetwood landfill site at the centre of thousands of complaints over stinking emissions have said the site played "only a small role" in the overall odour profile of the announced last week it had commissioned an independent monitoring company to analyse the levels and sources of odours in and around the company said the first results showed that odour levels were low at that time and appeared to originate from a number of campaigner Dr Barbara Kneale said: "There were no complaints before Transwaste reopened the landfill site. There have been thousands of complaints since – that tells you everything you need to know." Transwaste said results showed that during the week commencing 12 May, a total of 172 odour tests were carried out across key locations in of these, 151 tests showed no detectable landfill-related odour, and only 21 detections were attributed to landfill or mixed sources - the majority of which were recorded in areas of low sensitivity, such as the landfill compound and its immediate surroundings. 'Garden stinkbomb' While 11 detections occurred in high-sensitivity locations - including Springfield Terrace, Cala Gran, Broadwater Entrance, and Browns Lane - the tests showed those events were intermittent, of low intensity, and influenced largely by prevailing wind conditions, the Local Democracy Reporting Service landfill operators said the findings supported the view that occasional landfill-related odours were now more localised and limited in impact. But Dr Kneale, a member of campaign group Action Against Jameson Road Landfill, said: "Transwaste are insulting our intelligence."There is a real difference between the smell of sewage and the chemical, rotting eggs smell of the landfill."People are having to put up with this vile odour – like someone throwing a huge stinkbomb in your garden – on a regular basis."And it is affecting people's health and wellbeing. This site just needs to be closed down once and for all." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
