I have today been reassured by the Environment Agency (EA) that an unpleasant odour in Kirby Misperton village was not a gas leak, but the result of a cleaning operation and that steps are being taken to ensure it won’t happen again. I wrote to the EA following a number of letters from constituents, worried about the effect on their health and reports of sickness. The EA said it had carried out an immediate investigation, followed by an unannounced visit to the site on Friday 20th October, and established that on the day concerned, Third Energy had carried out a cleaning operation on a temporary tank on the KMA site. It said it is satisfied that it was this operation that gave rise to the odour. This tank had previously held wash water from a cleaning operation on a pipeline from Knapton Generating Station to Kirby Misperton. It had been emptied and was being jet washed as the final part of the cleaning process.
In its response to my letter, the EA said ‘Disappointingly this was done on a day when a strong wind was blowing from the site towards Kirby Misperton. Given what was in the tank we believe that the washings smelt of hydrogen sulphide and hydrocarbons. We have consulted with Public Health England who are currently looking in to the incident. It should be noted that alarms and records held on site do not signify any gas release. We have had extensive discussions with Third Energy to ensure that any future operations of this nature are done in a way that does not give rise to any odour off site. We have also worked with Ryedale District Council in the investigation and continue to do so’.