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4.8 Deputy A.K.F. Green of the Minister for Economic Development regarding potato leachate discharged from Beauport:
Will the Minister inform Members whether potato leachate is still being discharged
from Beauport and, if so, would he advise us of the current annual costs, the total
costs of the recovery for the process to date and when leachate likely will cease to be discharged?
Senator A.J.H. Maclean (The Minister for Economic Development):
Could I ask my Assistant Minister, the Constable of St. Clement, to answer the question? He has been delegated responsibility for agriculture.
Connétable L. Norman of St. Clement (Assistant Minister for Economic
Development):
The leachate continues to discharge from Beauport and will continue to do so for many, many, many years to come. The cost of disposal is currently between £300 and £400 a year because nowadays the leachate is pumped directly to the foul sewer. Between 1992 and 2008 this vodka concentrate was tankered away from Beauport for disposal at a cost of approximately £20,000 a year.
The Deputy Bailiff :
Are there any supplementary questions?
- Deputy A.K.F. Green:
Yes, please, Sir. £400 a year current cost, did he say? The Connétable of St. Clement :
Between £300 and £400 a year, currently, Sir. Deputy A.K.F. Green:
How does that equate to the 2 tanker deliveries picking up 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including Christmas Day; 2 tanker pick-ups every day must come to more than £400 a year?
The Connétable of St. Clement :
Yes, as I said, between 1992 and 2008 the leachate was tankered from Beauport away
for disposal, and that cost us £20,000 a year.
- Deputy A.K.F. Green:
I am told that the tankers are still visiting twice a day at the present time. Perhaps I could ask the Minister to look into this for me to see if I am mistaken. But furthermore, since asking the question, or should I say since the question became public, I have been contacted by a member of the public there who claims that her life is being completely ruined by the smells coming from the leachate up her drains and into her property. Perhaps the Minister would give an undertaking to investigate that at the same time?
The Connétable of St. Clement :
To the best of my knowledge, the information I have is that the leachate is now pumped directly into the foul sewer and tankerage is not necessary for that purpose. There may be tankers visiting there for other purposes; I do not know. Certainly, until fairly recent times the odour was unacceptable, which is one of the reasons it was tankered rather than pumped into the foul sewers. But the odour has now reduced considerably and is considered to be appropriate to be pumped through the sewers. But of course I will check with my colleagues at Transport and Technical Services to see if this is the case, and if there are any problems we will attempt to address them.
- The Deputy of St. John :
Could we be told of the cost of connecting the foul sewer from the pumping station where the leachate is coming from, please?
The Connétable of St. Clement :
The cost of construction and engineering of the pumping station was £45,000, the equivalent of 2 years' cost of tankering leachate.