Michael Gove, MP for Surrey Heath, visited Camberley Sewage Treatment Works yesterday (17 August) with local borough councillors from Watchetts and St Michaels, together with Environmental Health Officers from Surrey Heath Borough Council for an update on the efforts being made to process the extra sewage sludge and to reduce the odour that has been plaguing Camberley residents for the past few weeks.
Since end of June, Michael has been in touch with Thames Water, the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council concerning the unpleasant odour emanating from the Sewage Treatment Works in Camberley. Michael has been pressing for action for his constituents and following a virtual meeting with Thames Water last week, Michael visited the site yesterday to see the situation first-hand.
Before taking a tour of the sewage holding tank containing the imported sewage sludge that is responsible for the odour impacting nearby residents, there was a discussion with several representatives from Thames Water to establish how this incident happened, the reasons for the odour and the poor communication with residents. Thames Water promised to fully investigate the circumstances that led to the incident once the processing of the extra sewage sludge has been completed at the end of August. Thames Water also recognised its failings in keeping the community informed of the situation.
Michael has asked for action to avoid a similar incident in future, and in its email of 16 August to Michael, Thames Water stated that the site permit from the Environment Agency is changing in September, meaning that sludge imports will be no longer be permitted as part of the site operation. Thames Water confirmed this again at the site visit yesterday.
This follows the response of 31 July Michael received from the Environment Agency, reporting that Thames Water had applied to the Environment Agency for a new permit for the regulation of sewage treatment (anaerobic digestion) at the site. The Environment Agency stated that once this was issued, it would have increased regulatory control with necessary permit conditions to effectively manage odour.
Michael has just written again the Environment Agency to follow up his previous correspondence and has also asked further questions regarding the new permit for Camberley Sewage Treatment Works.
Michael commented:
Camberley residents have been enduring this situation for far too long, and although I am pleased an end is in sight and that changes to the site permit from the Environment Agency will prevent a similar incident from happening again, I feel residents must be compensated for the weeks of misery caused by this incident and I am following this up with Thames Water.
Michael urges any local residents affected by the incident at Camberley Sewage Treatment Works to make a report to Thames Water as soon as possible by calling Thames Water’s customer contact centre on 0800 316 9800 or by logging an issue online at www.thameswater.co.uk/help/report-a-problem
