Last week the department announced its intention to appeal a planning decision calling for covers to be placed over the primary tanks of the proposed £70 million plant, which came after concerns were raised by residents.
During a hearing of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny panel this week, the department’s chief officer John Rogers said that even if £4.1 million is spent installing the covers it may not actually resolve the odour problem.
‘We are not sure where the smell [in Bellozanne Valley] comes from. It might be from the sewage works or it might be from First Tower,’ he said.
‘I would rather spend the money when we know where the problem is. The way we have been trying to communicate this has been hijacked.
‘We need to make sure whether the smell in the area is coming from the primary tanks or from the sewage network.’
He added that he felt that the Planning Committee’s decision had been influenced by people who were ‘unqualified’ to comment on the matter.
Mr Rogers also said, however, that he would not be against building anti-odour covers, if it was identified that the plant was causing a serious odour problem once it is built.
‘We are not against covering the tanks. We are trying to build the best sewage plant which we can,’ he said.
‘We have had issues with smells for years and we have mitigated them. We don’t believe that the new plant will cause a problem but if it does then we are happy to retro-fit covers.’
The current plant at Bellozanne was built in 1959 and has been described by the States as ‘struggling to meet modern standards’.
It is planned that work on the new plant will commence in 2018, concluding in 2022.
