Posted On October 31, 2009 1 Comment

Tate Triangle odours: update.

Compny installs new filters

Company installs new filters

 

In May Adrian presented to Council a Residents’ Petition because of foul air in the Tate Triangle area – the residential housing locality above Limekiln Lane and the Docks.   
 
The Residents’ campaign was long and solidly supported by the whole community, with  regular reports to the Residents’ Association.  Tate & Lyle have now confirmed to the Council’s Environmental Health Officers that they intend to install filters on tanks that may contain ‘Tall Oil’ or ‘Tallol’.   This is a non-toxic substance but has a foul smell.  There was concern among residents that chemicals used for cleansing this material from tanks in the past may also have contributed to the nuisance.   The Company’s managers have assured our Environmental Health Officers that the chemicals are well within safety standards but, whatever the reasons, they have admitted to Tate & Lyle being the source of a number of particularly bad incidents – and we thank them for holding their hands up about that and for giving us assurances that every effort will be made to prevent repetitions.  It is clear that the Company wishes to enjoy good relationships with the local population and we have high hopes that this will be successful.  Adrian and John hope that such incidents may now prove to be a thing of the past but we will be taking a keen interest and will continue to listen to residents’ concerns.

Inevitably, a question now being asked by residents is:

 ’Why weren’t these measures put in place years ago?’ 

Angela Eagle MP with Adrian. Adrian and John are keeping Angela fully apprised of issues in our ward.

Angela Eagle MP with Adrian. Adrian and John are keeping Angela fully apprised of issues in our ward.

It has been suggested that there may well be offensive smells from other sources, such as sewers, and disturbance when ships screws churn up deposits in the docks.   The very welcome work undertaken by Tate & Lyle should make it easier for our Environmental Health Professionals to distinguish between sources and isolate and identify the origin of other causes of smells in the locality thereby removing any potential for blame to be shifted. 

One of the great difficulties in identifying the causes of smells is that if they are not identified quickly they will be blown away before their sources can be traced.   Please telephone Environmental Health if any new smells occur – and keep Adrian and John informed.

Posted On October 22, 2009 Leave a Comment

Tate Triangle odour control.

 

Adrian & John have kept residents up to date with their pressure to secure smell-free air for residents living above Limekiln Lane.   At its meeting yesterdayAdrian was able to DSCF0098update the Residents’ Association on a welcome new initiative from Tate & Lyle.

Following the meeting we had with managers of the Company, together with our Senior Enivronmental Health Officer, and the residents’ petition that we presented on your behalf, we are glad to report that progress is being made.  There is a continuing dialogue between our Environmental Officers and the Company, and they asked for a sample of the “tall oil” on site. 

An excellent outcome of that continuing contact is that Tate & Lyle have now put full filters on all tanks that do or may contain “Tall Oil”, which should at least prevent any odours from that product in future.

We have always recognised that there may be other sources of unpleasant smells but it is to Tate & Lyle’s credit that, to use their manager’s own words, they ‘held their hands up’ and admitted to a number of the most unpleasant incidents.  These new filtering measures will, apart from containing the immediate risk of smells from Tate & Lyle, hopefully assist in isolating smells from other sources.

 090901 - JS @ T&LWe’ll continue to take a close watch on air conditions in this locality and our MP Angela Eagle is being kept fully informed. 

We want residents to let us know of any further unpleasant smells affecting the area in the weeks and months ahead.

Posted On September 25, 2009 Leave a Comment

Tall oil

 

 090901 - JS @ T&LAdrian and John approached our Environmental Health Department today after John was alerted by concerned residents about alleged recent imports of ‘Tall oil’.   

We are presently checking whether this is the case and, if so, which company imported it.   

 On 13th March this year a local company had been cleaning a tank that contained a residue of “Tall Oil” and there were very bad smells.   But the company gave an assurance at that time that the incident was a ‘one 0ff’.

On this occasion we do not yet know who has imported the substance.   Our advice from the Council’s Environmental Health Department is that tall oil is a non-toxic, but very smelly substance. The company previously concerned claimed that it tried to contain the smells, on that occasion, but clearly failed.  Once they realised this, they contacted our Environmental Health Department to explain what had happened.  Although the smell lasted for many hours it finally faded by the end of the day.  But throughout the day many residents reported that they and their children experienced great discomfort.    

The incident was judged by our Environmental Health professionals to have been dealt with through the “best practicable means” to minimise nuisance, as is legally required, and that therefore that incident did not warrant any further action at that time.

We were assured that the company concerned did not plan to put any problematic chemicals back into the cleansed tank.

 

AJ web mug 3Residents wishing to know more about Tall Oil can follow the link below to a ‘Wikipedia’ article.  More information can be discovered by merely Googling ‘Tall oil’ .    

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_oil

Meanwhile if any resident has knowledge of the alleged recent imports please send full details to your local Labour Councillors:  

adrianjones.ucu@btinternet.com/ and johnsalter@wirral.gov.uk

Watch this space – we will be following this matter closely.