11 Mar 2017

Severn Trent Thermal Hydrolysis Commercial Solids Treatment Plant Project

Source: neec.no

A similar plant at Blue Plains, Washington DC, USA/Manchester U.K.

Purpose of Installation

  • To process more sludge
  • To produce more biogas and other fuel, to be more environmentally sustainable, £800,000 earned in 2016 (Source: Ofgem variablepitch data)
  • To digest the sludge more efficiently
  • To produce a better quality agricultural cake
  • To be able to increase revenue from the sale of more energy and fine quality agricultural fertilisers.

How are they going to do it

  • The THP plant will process stiffer sludge, heat it up to 170’C and digest the material, extract the gas, use some of it themselves, pump some into the grid, burn off the excess! Store the residual cake in pens ready for despatch when the farmers want it.
  • The stiffer sludge will be transported by HGV’s, the cake will be transported by HGV’s, all supposedly within the permitted licence hours allowed by highways, onto a 7.5 tonne limited residential narrow lane – Barlaston Old Road.
  • They will impose all this traffic on BOR north.

Actually they don’t appear to know the size of the THP yet

HGV Transport numbers

  • We agree with studies that STW currently make 140 HGV journeys per day on average.
  • We agree that other traffic varies and is around 2500
  • 140 HGV’s averaging 20 tonnes = 2800 t/day
  • 2500 cars averaging 1200kg        = 3000 t/day
  • STW HGV content is equivalent to all other uses put together. Added to this the 1000+ HGV movements for the construction phase.
  • Today this is unacceptable for this characterful and otherwise green asset of the city.

Why is it unacceptable

  • The road is too narrow, 5.2 metres wide in places
  • The road is not designed for sustained HGV traffic
  • There are no pedestrian footpaths for residents
  • The road and it’s substructure continues to degrade
  • The noise levels are too high
  • The vibrations shake the ground
  • The presence of so many trucks is intimidating
  • The HGV speeds are not managed
  • They operate outside of permitted hours

What do we want

  • We want STW to lift the decision to send all construction traffic north on BOR
  • We want STW to start the project to access the A34 directly with council guidance
  • We want speed management controls for STW HGV and their contractors on BOR
  • We want the site to respect 100% the permitted hours of operation.
  • We want forecast data on the future expansion of Strongford.

We want to enjoy our assets

Not a privilege, its our right to protect these amenities

  • Adequate safety and protection for all road users
  • Prevent of vibration, noise, smells and visual contamination of our homes and gardens.
  • Protect, and be allowed to develop our community
  • Our countryside character, beauty and its accessibility
  • Free time liberty, pedestrian, cycling, riding, exercise

STW – BUILD A ROAD TO THE A34!

This article snippet was taken from the Sentinel in 2007; where it clearly states the only way to minimise disruption during the development would be to build a road leading up to the plant from the A34.

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