Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Newcombe.

The notes of the meeting held on 11 November 2009 were agreed as a correct record.

Terry Green reported that there had been no significant changes to the processing plant since the last meeting.

The following progress had continued with odour improvement works:

• A large extraction fan which extracts air from the boiler house to the Drier room has been installed. Any fumes extracted from the boiler house are now treated via the large Flakt tower. As a result of these works the risk of fugitive emissions from the boiler house has been significantly reduced.
• The external air extraction ducting from the Fallen Stock area to the JLT tower has been completely removed. Several sections of the ducting were in relatively poor condition and were susceptible to odour emissions to the atmosphere. Sufficient air extraction from the raw materials room is still provided by two extraction ducting’s serving this area.
• Atomising spray equipment to spray a neutralising agent in the vicinity of the external effluent tanks is currently being installed.
• Plans to replace the wet cooling tower with an air condenser are currently on hold. The current cooling tower is performing adequately for the needs of the processing plant.
• The installation of a simplified conveyors system in the press room and also a tallow drainage system ex-drier are currently on hold due to financial constraints. The benefit of these works would further improve plant reliability and efficiency.

The total cost of environmental control from October 2009 to the end of February 2010 (5 months) was £167,709; £67,120 spent on odour control and £100,589 on effluent treatment. The combined average monthly spend being £33,542.

These are typical regular costs of environmental control.

A summary of individual costs were supplied to members of the group (attached).

The Chair stated that he felt the site visit had been a useful experience and allowed the information that was received at the meetings to be put into context. He stated that on the day of the visit the smell had not appeared to be too bad except in the Raw Materials room and this led to the question as to how old the material was. Mr Green clarified that only 10% of material was collected on a weekly basis and over 70% comes in on a daily basis. He stated that the carcases can decompose quickly, particularly during warmer weather, thus giving the impression they are older than they are.

To minimise complaint risk, and wherever possible, vehicles en route to the factory that could be more susceptible to odour are arranged to travel outside of peak traffic times.  Staggered arrival times are also planned to prevent vehicles waiting on the yard.  However, on occasions when this is not possible due to unforeseen circumstances, John Leech or Alex Bulleid would be informed without delay.

Councillor Choules commented that he had been impressed with the cleanliness of the site.

A summary of the quarterly complaints was distributed to members of the group (attached).

The noise complaint that was received in December was caused by No.2 boiler, and was a result of the gas flow within the fuel chamber creating a high pitched noise. The boiler manufacturer was approached who supplied a series of retro-fit gas hoods which were fitted in January and this has eliminated the problem.

There was another noise complaint which resulted from the releasing of the boilers’ steam pressure prior to closure of the factory on a Saturday. This procedure has since been reviewed, and steam pressure is no longer released at the end of the processing week, where closure will be for only one day.

A letter was received from Ben Bradshaw MP on behalf of a resident. The resident was contacted and advised that unless there was information on a specific vehicle it was difficult to trace and identify the problem. The resident was given a direct number for future contact but has not been in contact since. Ben Bradshaw was also sent a reply detailing procedures and how complaints were managed.

The date of the next meeting was noted.