Dear Residents (copied blind to protect email privacy)
There has been severe odour havoc during September and October and the odour trends are very similar to those experienced in Sept / Oct 2006 i.e. many reports of late night and weekend odour. With only 10 months to go until completion of the Odour Improvement Project we are concerned that there is no significant odour reduction as yet.
Thank you to all who registered complaints via MRAG. It is quite obvious from your complaints - many received late at night - that the continuing problem is causing much misery, distress and anger. We have raised your concerns with Thames Water executives as well as Senior Council Officers, The Leader of the Council, OFWAT and DEFRA.
Thames Water has advised "Please note that I am unable to directly respond to complaints received via MRAG or any other third party that has been promoting legal action against Thames Water. Thames Water will continue to accept and respond to questions received directly from local residents."
In most instances The Thames Water webpage posts "the site was operating normally. We have also investigated the Odour Control Units and found that these were operating as normal and the sludge level on site was below the Mogden Site alert levels. Thames Water recognise that the sewage treatment process can cause an increase in odour from time to time and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused during this process."
Full details of Thames Water's explanations to complaints can be found on its website.
Hounslow Council has yet to respond to your individual complaints but the last blanket response to weekend odour reads:
"In short, the works' processes were operating normally."
As you are aware Mogden is automated with only up to three technicians/process controllers on site after hours. At your behest we asked the Council to provide after hours contact numbers so that officers could experience the odour and get Thames Water managers on site to investigate odour incidents.
The Council responded: "the Department does not have the resources to provide an on demand response"
In response to our concern that the £42 million public money being spent on odour improvement is being effectively managed the Council advised:
"Responsibility for ensuring that the "£42million is well managed" lies with Thames Water and OFWAT."
Although Hounslow Council issued an Abatement Notice against Thames Water in July 2001, the Council's Environmental Services Dept was still unsure in July 2007 of its legal right to have environmental officers visit Mogden unannounced and was seeking clarification. To date no clarification has been forthcoming!!
We have written to the Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Thompson, requesting intervention and clarification of these matters. He has to date remained silent.
There are areas of concern regarding the day to day operation of Mogden and staff training and we have asked the Council to address these issues with Thames Water as a matter of urgency.
We are hoping to meet with Council officers and Lead Councillors before the month end. Please let us know if there are any additional issues you would like us to raise.
Group Litigation
There is a further Court hearing on the 26th of October where the Judge is expected to give further directions to progress the case following the decision on preliminary issues. It is expected that those involved in the litigation will be given a full case update following the hearing.
Please continue to register your complaints via MRAG.
regards
Mogden Residents Action Group
Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:46 pm