Scottish Water has pledged a £100,000 investment in a bid to eradicate the infamous ”Methil ming”.
The company has announced it will be spending a signficant sum at its Levenmouth waste water treatment works over the next few months following a barrage of complaints about the foul odour.
Residents have been kicking up a stink about the smell since the plant was built a decade ago and the promise of action follows a public protest as Scottish Water officials met local politicians to discuss the issue last month.
The announcement has been warmly welcomed by local MP Lindsay Roy, who has campaigned for the company to take urgent action to end the misery.
The MP, who collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition calling for an end to the odour, said he hoped the short-term action will result in a long-term solution.
The investment includes the installation of a new automatic monitoring system to tell workers when the waste water coming into the works is septic and giving off a rotten egg smell.
When this happens chemicals will automatically be added to neutralise the smell. This should be running by September.
In addition, independent external consultants will be employed to study the impact of different weather and wind patterns on odours coming from the works.
Scottish Water said the study, expected to be finished by October, would help it understand why the stench is often smelt in the community but not at the treatment works.
The company will also test the building that houses the sludge dryer to establish if any smells are escaping from there and take action if necessary. This work should be complete by the start of next month.
An improvement in the way complaints are handled is also in the pipeline, to ensure customers are responded to as quickly as possible.
As well as the actions being undertaken by Scottish Water and contractors CELTS, the operator of the treatment works, Fife Council’s environmental health department will carry out its own increased monitoring regime of the plant and the surrounding area over the next couple of months.
Anne Marie Dewar, Scottish Water’s regional community manager for Fife, said the company is listening to the concerns of customers and elected representatives.
”This is a significant investment and we will be writing to all our customers in the local area to explain what we are doing,” she said. ”We will continue to keep elected representatives updated as the work progresses and we will hold a public information event when the work has been completed to discuss the results with our customers.
”When our customers notice an odour we ask them to immediately contact our customer helpline on 0845 601 8855. This will help us to investigate if we have a problem at the treatment works or in our sewer network and take action to address it as quickly as possible.”
Mr Roy said the response had been much more prompt and focused than normal and added: ”Whether or not this is in response to the proposed setting up of an action group is a matter of debate. It is something that people will want to consider but clearly Scottish Water has, on this occasion at least, taken on board the strength of feeling locally.”