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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2010
Question
Following ongoing odour problems at the satellite waste plant at Bonne Nuit and the reduction in the quality of the bathing water to below acceptable bathing quality standards on a number of days during the summer season, will the Minister acknowledge the guarantee made by his predecessor at a St. John Parish Assembly when the plant was built, that, should the satellite prove problematic, efforts would be made to connect the area to the mains system via an additional standby waste pipe line along Les Charrieres de Bonne Nuit and, if so, will he indicate when the work will be undertaken?
Answer
I would firstly like to state that the package treatment plant at Bonne Nuit is and has been producing a very high quality effluent. Even when we have had problems the system retains the effluent and we tanker back to Bellozanne to guarantee environmental protection in this sensitive area of the north coast. Before discharge into the sea to the north of the breakwater the effluent undergoes additional ultra violet treatment (similar to Bellozanne) to kill off bacteria and disinfect the effluent and so, protect the aquatic environment. This is an environmentally friendly means of disinfection. Weekly samples are taken by the regulator to monitor performance and the results are available if requested.
With regard to odour from the plant I would concur that this is an unpleasant issue which is exacerbated in the warmer summer months. This does cause odour nuisance to residents and visitors to the area and I would like to apologise to those people affected.
Odour is a difficult problem and my department have tried a variety of low cost solutions to eradicate the smells and we acknowledge that these solutions have not been fully successful to date. Therefore, we have committed to install a substantial odour control package plant to finally eradicate this nuisance.
With the current pressures on budgets and capital the replacement of Bonne Nuit Package Treatment plant with a pumping station, unfortunately, is not a high priority. Other work including the high priority Philips Street Shaft which would prevent flooding in St Helier is currently not funded. Therefore until a new source of capital funding is found we will not be changing the Package plant for a pumping station in the foreseeable future.