Tag: Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

Hello Sun! ……Hello Stench?

As the weather warms and softens a little, local people will have noticed the return of our old friend(?),  the disgusting ‘Seafield Stench’.

Despite the assurances of the sewage plant operator Veolia, that the weather and the smells are not connected, we have all noticed that the Stench seems to descend on sunny days, just to try us. Report smells here!

Same campaign success, some progress?

Although it is a long-running saga, local people may remember that our years of campaigning DID get the Scottish Government to commit funding-

  1.  – to build a £100,000 million state-of-the-art new Sewage Plant, starting in 2029 when the current private finance agreement with Veolia comes to an end, and
  2.  – in the meantime, to spend £10 million on improvements to the existing plant, aimed at reducing odour problems.

These improvements are, sadly, still at the procurement stage, and they are not expected to ‘break ground’ until early 2025. Though they may well improve things longer term, it’s possible that there will be more, rather than fewer, stink incidents next year, as the work disrupts the normal running of the plant. So it’s important to keep them on their toes!

Reporting Portal Working again, please report!

Those in authority have openly admitted that our reporting facility (see on this page), which so many of you used to great effect, was a huge factor in getting the Government to commit to spending on Seafield. Unfortunately, for the past few months it hasn’t been working properly due to technical glitches

However, we have got the report form system working again and some of you have already been using it to complain about our recent, treasured sunny days becoming stinky days.

So please take the few moments needed to report every time you smell sewage from Seafield. Your reports go to every official who has anything to do with Seafield Waste Water Treatment facility, right up to the Scottish Government Minister, who gets every email!

It worked the last time, let’s keep the pressure up!

Report smells here! leithlinkscc.org.uk/seafieldnuisancereportform

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City of Edinburgh Council responds to complaints of foul odour emissions in Leith Links area

Earlier this week we responded to the massive number of foul odour emissions complaints we were receiving, as of 7pm this evening we have received 188 such complaints.

On the 18th June Scottish Water responded by attributing odour complaints to another nearby site, and not making any mention of odours associated with Seafield.

Earlier today, a City of Edinburgh Council spokesman issued an email in relation to recent complaint/s. They correctly advise that Scottish Water did put our community on notice of a possible increase in foul odour emissions due to storm tank cleaning from 17th June, but this doesn’t account for smells of human sewage reported prior to that.

A Council spokesperson said;

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your recent report regarding odour in the Seafield area. An odour issue has been identified which is associated with activities at another business on Albert Road which is creating odours described as burning rubber, gaseous, or eggy. As this site has a Waste Management Licence, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) are currently investigating.Unit Warden (Temporary Accommodation Service) - | City of ...

With regards to Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works; on Wednesday and Thursday this week the storm tanks were being cleaned out, which may have resulted in an increase in sewage type odours in the community..

We are continuing to work with Scottish Water and Veolia (the plant operators) to investigate further and implement mitigation measures to minimise odour.

Scottish Water have advised of the storm tank cleaning in a communication to local community groups and representatives. Their communications in relation to Seafield can be found at: https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/in-your-area/investments-in-your-area/seafield.

While also campaigning for long term solutions, it is vitally important that we keep reporting odour nuisance whenever it occurs, to demonstrate the scale of the problem and the impact on the local community.

Leith Links Community Council continues to encourage any member of our community who is negatively impacted by the release of foul odour emissions from the Seafield site to report such incidents via our website.

Our online reporting tool not only notifies Scottish Water, but simultaneously informs the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Veolia UK, Leith Links Community Council, City of Edinburgh Council (officers and Councillors Booth, Munro & McVey), the Scottish Governments Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and local MSP Ben MacPherson.

 

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Local MSP responds to latest 188 complaints of foul odour emissions

Earlier this week we responded to the massive number of foul odour emissions complaints we were receiving, as of 7pm this evening we have received 188 such complaints.

On the 18th June Scottish Water responded by attributing odour complaints to another nearby site, and not making any mention of odours associated with Seafield.

Earlier today the office of Ben MacPherson MSP offered comment on this weeks severe foul odour issue.  A spokesman said;

Thank you for reporting odour in the community using the Leith Links Community Council (LCCC) reporting form. Your complaint is copied to Ben Macpherson MSP as part of that process. Ben wanted me to respond to you on his behalf to outline the action that his office takes when there are reports of odour from Seafield.Ben Macpherson MSP

This week there has been a very high number of complaints seen by Ben’s office and we have been in contact daily with Scottish Water, regularly with City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) as the primary regulator and we have also been in touch with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). I understand that CEC will respond to the recent complaints once

As the local constituency MSP Ben chairs the Seafield Stakeholders Group which brings together Scottish Water, the plant’s operators Veolia, CEC, SEPA, community representatives from the LCCC and the Leith Links Residents Association (LLRC) along with local councillors and representatives from the offices of Deidre Brock MP, Tommy Sheppard MP and Ash Denham MSP. This group allows a forum for discussion about the operation of the plant, odour incidences, improvements in and future investment in the plant. Information on the Stakeholders Group and the Strategic Review is available here.

As local MSP and chair of the Stakeholder Group Ben has raised the issues of ongoing odour complaints and future investment in the plant with the Cabinet Secretary for Environment  Roseanna Cunningham MSP and as a result of his intervention a Strategic Review was carried out into the plant and the wider network to establish steps that can be taken operationally and through future investment to improve the performance of the works and in particular the odour impact on the local community.

Ben shares your concerns over the recent odour incidences and had written to the Cabinet Secretary following odour complaints in April – her response is attached to this email. Ben’s office will continue to engage with Scottish Water, the Council, SEPA and the community representatives over this issue to seek answers and solutions. There is investment coming which should improve matters and reduce odour problems but until then Ben will push for operational improvements to mitigate odour.

In closing Ben takes the issue of odour from the Seafield WWTW very seriously and will continue to make a strong case on behalf of his constituents when issues arise and also to ensure that the plant gets the investment it needs for the future and to minimise odour issues.

Thank you again for reporting this odour occurrence.

Leith Links Community Council continues to encourage any member of our community who is negatively impacted by the release of foul odour emissions from the Seafield site to report such incidents via our website.

Our online reporting tool not only notifies Scottish Water, but simultaneously informs the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Veolia UK, Leith Links Community Council, City of Edinburgh Council (officers and Councillors Booth, Munro & McVey), the Scottish Governments Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and local MSP Ben MacPherson.

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Scottish Water issue Seafield update following massive spike in odour complaints

All this week we have received a massive number of complaints of foul odour emissions in  the Leith area, believed to be from Seafield. Over 150 complaints have been recorded on our website and notified to Scottish Water, City of Edinburgh Council officers, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Veolia UK, Ben MacPhersons MSP, Roseanna Cunningham MSP and Councillors Booth, McVey & Munro for their attention & action.

A Scottish Water spokesperson has today published an update on Seafield.

Strangely, the public statement distances Seafield from the burning rubber / gas / sulphur type smell. Instead insisting that those odours are related to another (as yet unnamed) site in Leith, as confirmed by City of Edinburgh Council. However, at this stage the Community Council has not received any such confirmation of this from any body independent of Scottish Water / Veolia.

What’s even more strange is that the spokesman fails to address or even mention the foul odour of human sewage which has been sweeping across large swathes of our community.

A Scottish Water spokesperson said;

Following on from our community notification issued on Monday, we wanted to provide you with an update.Scottish Water logo

The storm tank cleaning that was scheduled for Wednesday 17th – 18th June was completed on schedule.

We are aware of a significant increase of odour complaints over the past few days, a number of which have detailed a burning rubber, sulphur and gas type smell.  As these type of odours do not necessarily correlate with the type of odour that is associated with wastewater treatment, we carried out an investigation of the whole site including the sludge processes and the surrounding area which identified a moderate to strong odour being generated at an industrial site near the docks, and is unrelated to Seafield wastewater operations.

 

This was confirmed by Environmental Health officials at City of Edinburgh Council and is currently being investigated by SEPA.

 

Looking ahead, there is some work required to the Intermediate Pumping Station. Any potential odours associated with this task have been assessed as low. This work will commence on Friday and should be completed same day. This is essential planned maintenance to limit the amount of grit that can pass through into the treatment process which can cause significant issues to site operations.

We will provide an update once this work is complete

 

I would be grateful if elected members and the Community Council could help and share this message on their Social Media channels.

 

Note: A copy of this communication will be posted on our website  – https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/seafield

Leith Links Community Council continues to encourage any member of our community who is negatively impacted by the release of foul odour emissions from the Seafield site to report such incidents via our website.

Our online reporting tool not only notifies Scottish Water, but simultaneously informs the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Veolia UK, Leith Links Community Council, City of Edinburgh Council (officers and Councillors Booth, Munro & McVey), the Scottish Governments Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and local MSP Ben MacPherson.

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Massive spike in complaints amidst ongoing foul odour emissions from Seafield

As of lunchtime today, our Community Council has received 102 reports of foul odour emissions from Seafield this week, submitted by 92 members of our community.

We have now received 492 reports since our first one at 16:08 on 24 April 2019.

We felt it was really important to let you all know that Leith Links Community Councillor Chairman Jim Scanlon & fellow Community Councillor Eileen Simpson are following up these reports with the authorities with our usual vigour & determination.

Our community has received many apologies for the impact of foul odour emissions from Seafield. most recently on 3 June 2020. Despite, the numerous apologies over recent years foul odours have continued to negatively impact upon the quality of life for many of those in our community.

On 15 June 2020 Scottish Water put our community on notice that there could be an increase in foul odour emissions starting from 17 June 2020 (we blogged about it here) but actually, foul odours have massively increased since 15 June 2020.

» Read more

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Leith Links Residents Association lodge formal complaint against Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in relation to Seafield odour

Leith Links Residents Association recently undertook a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to pay for a solicitor to represent community complaints regarding odour from Seafield.Image result for seafield odour

Having raised sufficient funds they engaged Ian Cowan to write to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on their behalf.

 

 

 

 

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Seafield odour complaints

There has been a spike in complaints relating to Seafield over recent days.  Since Friday 20 September 2019 we have received over forty complaints relating to odour.

Click on the image to complete our web form.

Reporting odour from Seafield supports us and others to campaign for an effective long term solution to the issue by building a catalogue of incidents, it also allows us to challenge the responsible bodies about specific incidents to see what happened and how it can be avoided in the future.

When you report any odour issues via our website the simple web form is sent to a number of people & organisations:

  • Councillors Booth, McVey & Munro
  • Ben MacPherson MSP
  • Roseanna Cunningham MSP (Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform)
  • City of Edinburgh Council
  • Scottish Water
  • Veolia
  • Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

 

Click on the image for more information.

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Reporting noise nuisance from Seafield Waste Water Treatment Plant

A number of months ago we introduced one handy web from on our website which allowed members of our community to report nuisance & intrusive odours from Seafield Waste Water Treatment Plan to City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Water, Veolia, Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.

As we have recently received a significant number of complaints relating to nuisance noise from the plant, we have updated our form, allowing you to report smell and / or noise from the plant.

The form can be accessed by clicking here, and can be used any time, any day.

 

 

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Scottish Water Apology to Community

Scottish Water finally put out an apology today after receiving several emails from me on behalf of the community council and those who live in the community.Scottish Water should we aware that there is an ongoing issue with odour emissions from Seafield due to the high number of complaints forwarded to them, local elected members, SEPA and City Of Edinburgh Council by you, the public.

The apology reads

Scottish Water is aware of an elevated level of odour related issues in the Leith Links area and would like to sincerely apologise to customers for the inconvenience this is causing. 

During the unprecedented long spell of hot and dry weather the site operator Veolia has been taking all steps to ensure the operating conditions at Seafield WWTW are optimised including management of sludge levels. Veolia has progressed and implemented the agreed network related actions contained within the Strategic Odour Review.  In addition, Scottish Water is checking operations within its wider network which connects to Seafield WwTW.

We are continuing to review what other measures may be implemented to address the situation during this period of dry weather and again we apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers.

The apology could have been copy and pasted from previous similar emails. Leith Links Community Council and Leith Links Residents Association are well aware of what causes the problem. City of Edinburgh Council sending out highly trained noses to agree or disagree with local residents over how strong and unpleasant a smell of sewage is no longer acceptable. If you as a local resident are effectively trapped in your house because of disgusting smells then that to me is totally unacceptable.

Last Tuesday there was a programme on BBC2 called Inside the Factory which showed the process of making toilet paper. During the programme they also visited the sewage works that services Brighton. What was the difference between Seafield and Brighton? All the areas that could cause odour emissions are covered.

Veolia who operate Seafield under a PFI contract from Scottish Water seem powerless to stop the stink. They are well aware of the problem because it’s not new and happens year after year.

How do we solve it? Money, lots of money to cover the settlement tanks at Seafield and reducing odour emissions by covering the areas where the sludge gathers and becomes septic. In these weather conditions sewage can become septic in the network because there’s not the usual rainfall to flush it through so it’s probably arriving at Seafield already septic and producing the honk.

I have been in contact with Ben MacPherson MSP to arrange a meeting with the community council and residents association. We will be lobbying for a move to demand that Scottish Government provide the necessary funding for work to be done on the plant.

15000 people were at Easter Road last night to watch the football and they could smell the sewage. What a wonderful advert for our capital city when visitors from Greece are greeted by the smell of excrement.

Please continue to report the Great Stink and tell your friends to do it. You can be sure that politicians do pay attention when they receive lots of emails reporting the stench especially when election time isn’t too far away.

Thanks

Jim

 

 

 

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SEAFIELD SEWAGE WORKS STINK

Over the past few weeks there has been an increase in odour emissions from Seafield. It’s disgusting and ruins local residents’ enjoyment of this good spell of weather. I’m disappointed to report that Veolia have been slow to react to public concerns and if SEPA and City of Edinburgh Council have taken any action they haven’t communicated that to the community council or local residents association who have been working hard on your behalf for many years. Rob Kirkwood from Leith Links Residents Association and I will be meeting with Ben MacPherson MSP on Monday evening to raise our concerns. I will then give you a full update on where we go from here.

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