Severn Trent Water: investigation into vile fish smell across Derby that makes people heave
Severn Trent Water has launched an investigation after it was accused of causing a “vile” fish smell across Derby.
The mysterious bad pong has been a cause for concern for some time and the unpleasant whiff is understood to have been spreading around the Spondon area of the city.
The smell is said to have been so strong it has triggered complaints from residents to local councillors in the past few weeks, who since have carried out their own investigations.
Residents claim they have had to keep windows closed and some have “heaved” when noticing it on their travels.
Spondon’s three councillors Jonathan Smale, Chris Poulter and Nicola Roulstone issued a statement claiming they and council officers believe with a “high degree of confidence” the smell is coming from the Severn Trent Water treatment works plant at Megaloughton Lane.
Severn Trent Water has responded to the accusation, stating it has begun its own investigation and is aware of the public concern surrounding the matter.
The latest developments come after the Spondon councillors told residents the council had looked into the issue and believed Severn Trent Water was responsible.
It said: “Derby City Council has confirmed with us that there is a high degree of confidence the recent odours we’ve been experiencing are coming from the Severn Trent Treatment Works plant.
“The city council hopes to resolve this with discussions with STW. But we felt it was important to notify and update residents who have affected by it so they can also report it to the right place. We can all agree the smells at times have been vile.”
A further statement from the council says the local authority does not have power in terms of regulatory capacity to deal with the problem. But council officers are encouraging people to make complaints to the Environment Agency “who are the regulator for the site and who are therefore in a position to investigate and take enforcement action where necessary”.
A spokesperson for Severn Trent said in response: “We’re aware of the issue raised and we have started our own investigation to understand if this is being caused by our network. We fully appreciate the public’s concerns and a member of our team on site has been in contact with them to discuss these further.”
One resident told Spondon councillors via their Facebook page the smell was so bad they had to close their bedroom window and others have described the pong as “awful”.