A Tynwald inquiry report has called for an independent review of the costs of the regional sewage treatment strategy for Peel, St John’s and the central valley.

The environment and infrastructure policy review committee concludes there are valid concerns about the calculations relied on by Manx Utilities in support of building a regional sewage works in Peel.

And it notes: ’We are not convinced that there is a significant cost saving to be found in pursuing the regional strategy for Peel.’

The investigation began when the committee was approached by engineer David Jones, who owns land next to a proposed site for Peel’s sewage treatment works.

Mr Jones claimed that Manx Utilities had exaggerated the operating costs of linking Peel to the IRIS network by about £13m. The committee’s remit was to examine whether a regional approach, rather than linking Peel and the central valley to Meary Veg plant in Santon via the IRIS system, was still the best solution in terms of cost to the public purse, business, the environment and public health.

abandoned

Tynwald voted in 2009 to abandon the all-island IRIS approach to sewage treatment in favour of a regional strategy for the north and west.

This was largely for financial reasons - the cost of constructing treatment facilities had fallen while the cost of pumping sewage had risen since the inception of the IRIS project in the early 1990s.

At that time, the move was said to represent a saving of about £25m in capital costs compared with the original IRIS scheme, as well as reduced operational costs.

Manx Utilities’ current calculations show that regional sewage treatment works in Peel, St John’s and the central valley would offer a saving of almost £7m over 25 years in comparison to connecting these catchment areas to Meary Veg.

Mr Jones told the committee: ’What I would say about the centralised treatment is the figures for capital expenditure have been exaggerated.

’But by no means have they been exaggerated as much as the operating cost. I could not believe £17.3m - they have got central treatment operational cost at £17.3m.’

investigation

The committee investigation concluded there is no single form of sewage treatment that is appropriate for the entire island and different regions require different solutions.

Given the valid concerns about the calculations relied on by the MUA, it recommends Treasury commission an independent review of the costs of the regional sewage treatment strategy for Peel, St John’s and the Central Valley, and report back to Tynwald.

The scrutiny committee report, which goes before Tynwald this week, also recommends that no regional sewage works be constructed in Peel without an extended sea outfall pipe. ’The decision not to extend the outfall pipe potentially exposes bathers and other sea users to unnecessary risk,’ it states.

The committee also concluded that it is unacceptable that leachate from the Raggatt continues to be disposed of through the sewage system in Peel, contributing to the pollution of one of the island’s most popular beaches.

It recommends that a solution for safely disposing of the leachate be developed in conjunction with any plans for sewage treatment in Peel.

The report also describes existing bathing water standards as ’inadequate’ and the 2006 EU Bathing Water Directive should be adopted as soon as possible.