I have had quite a bit of response from various people in connection with my letters and emails.  Below is the response to my letter from Mike Fenton.  It doesn't mention anything that justifies why I and others have felt a noticeable change in health when immersed in the strong odour.  Another lady living on Derby road, without me mentioning anything said that the smell was strong the other morning and it got on her chest.  She didn't sound very well when she spoke to me.  This is what worries me, not the fact that there is a strong smell which some people might just not find pleasant.

Letter received 29.3.2011

Dear Mr Holdaway

Thank you for your email to Wendy Reeks dated 19 March 2011, which she has forwarded on to me as emda’s Project Director for the Avenue.

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you, together with my empathy regarding the odours that you and your partner have experienced in recent days.

I understand that you have been contacted by Ian Burton, Environmental Manager for VSD Avenue, our site contractors. Ian has informed me that he explained to you that the odours were the result of site operations to excavate, transport, stockpile and mix on-site waste materials, prior to treatment within the Thermal Desorption Unit and were not the result of the emissions from the TDU itself. I also believe that you discussed the prevailing weather conditions at the time which, because of the cold and still overnight conditions, has meant that the odours emitted from the site have not dispersed, but have settled at the bottom of the River Rother valley, where clearly both the site and your property are located.

To provide you with some more context of what the Avenue Remediation Project is all about, our objectives are to treat all of the legacy contamination within the site I order to return it to beneficial public use. To do this we need to move the most contaminated materials from where they are currently stockpiled (i.e. the two lagoons and waste tip at the northern end of the site) to the TDU in the central west part of the site. In order to mitigate the effects of these operations, the site deploys a range of techniques, including targeted spraying by chemicals that both suppress and mask the bad smells. In addition VSD Avenue is in the process of introducing additional odour suppression systems particularly around the thermal treatment feedstock area. We are also evaluating the effectiveness of spray on foam blankets, which we hope would further assist in odour suppression. The tarry lagoon materials are also transported to the covered thermal plant mixing area in sealed wagons. However, it is not possible to eradicate altogether the smell that is released from the disturbance of the waste materials and this is why it is being noticed by local residents and will vary in intensity in differing weather situations.

In addition and in order to inform us about the odour experienced by local residents, we have set up a network of local volunteers as odour diarists. At the moment we have approximately 20 individuals taking part and would be pleased if you, or your partner, would be willing to join the team to help keep us informed of odour levels in your local area. Of course if you would rather not take part, I quite understand, but whichever you decide, please feel free to keep in contact with the Avenue project team to report your ongoing experiences and/or concerns.

With regard to public consultation, I understand that you are aware that we have a website (www.theavenueproject.co.uk), which, amongst other things, publishes the monthly Air Quality Monitoring Report. This report sets out details of the existing air quality monitoring arrangements for the site, together with the results for the month in question, which I trust will be of interest to you going forward. Furthermore, please feel free to provide us with feedback about this report or any of the other information that you find on the website.

With respect to the internet research that you have undertaken and your reference to the article prepared by Dr van Steenis entitled ‘Hazardous Waste Sites and Effects on Health’ (1999), I can confirm that we are aware of the views of this individual because they have been raised with respect to the Avenue Remediation Project on several occasions in recent years. However, those involved have never been able to substantiate the rather extreme statements of Dr van Steenis with hard evidence, such as peer reviewed research. Instead all we have been provided with is a very long list of documents, many of which are simply abstracts to scientific papers, which supposedly support the views being expressed. When challenged to explain how the quoted references support the allegations being made, the proponents of the points have failed on every occasion to do so.

It is also worth noting that our consultants have tried to acquire peer reviewed research produced by Dr van Steenis himself, but have discovered that there is virtually none available. Indeed with respect to the specific reference that you have made regarding the alleged increase in breast cancers in the vicinity of the Avenue in 1999, we asked in the individual, who has previously made reference to it, to provide a copy to us back in July 2008. Unfortunately, all that he was able to produce was a short extract from the case study, but not the complete report or the results of the investigation. We have therefore been unable to verify the basis of Dr van Steenis’ claims regarding the Wingerworth study, and indeed this has been our experience regarding all of his other claims in recent years.

Finally, I trust that this email has helped address the points you have raised, but if I, or other members of the Avenue project team, can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Regards

Mike Fenton – Project Director