A WATER company has been warned there will be an outcry from residents if a stench that plagued Holderness for more than a decade returns after a fire at a waste water treatment works.
Yorkshire Water said an odour-control unit was badly damaged at the Saltend works last week.
Although a new £3.6m unit, which does the same job, was not affected by the fire, residents are concerned that the stench could return, with the pea season a matter of days away.
Councillor Mike Bryan, who is liaising between East Riding Council and Yorkshire Water, said: "If the smell from the past comes back, I will go ballistic and so will residents.
"When the smell was bad, it was like imprisonment in our own homes. Even on a nice day you couldn't go out in your garden because the smell was so bad. It was unfair.
"Yorkshire Water needs to make sure the fire and the damage to the odour-control unit doesn't lead to a return of the bad smells.
"It is down to them to solve the problem."
The site, which opened in 2000, processes 40 million gallons of sewage and industrial waste every day.
Thousands of Holderness residents have previously complained about the smells from the plant saying it had made their lives a misery for a decade.
However, in December 2011, a £3.5m odour-control unit was up and running. Since then, there has only been a handful of complaints.
Councillor Bryan said: "We do not want a repeat of the smells from the past.
"It took a long time for the smells to be improved and although there are still the drive-by smells, there is nothing like the problems residents suffered in the past."
Six fire engines attended the blaze last Wednesday.
Yorkshire Water spokesman Matt Thompson said investigations into the fire are still under way and the company will be providing weekly updates into site developments.
He said: "We are working hard to mitigate the loss of the smaller of our two onsite odour control units, which was irreparably damaged.
"Over the course of the weekend, we successfully diverted some of the odours which were previously fed through the now defunct smaller unit, to the larger £3.5m unit, which continues to perform well.
"To build on this progress, we are now looking at what additional resources we could draw upon to ensure we continue to effectively manage odours around the site.
"We would like to reassure you that we remain acutely aware we are approaching a critical time of year for the plant. Our contingency plans are being considered at the very highest levels within the company."
