By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

MORE residents in Chesapeake have come forward and expressed concerns about the Grand Bahama Utility Company waste water treatment plant off Midshipman Road. Although company officials insist that a nearby pond is the source of the foul odour, the residents claim that the problem did not exist until after the plant began operating in the area.

Shuffel Hepburn, who has lived in Chesapeake since 1999 - before the plant was constructed - raised the intial concerns. “I am not the only one who has a problem; there are a lot of persons who have a problem with the plant and the odour it emits; it has been a major disturbance to residents of Chesapeake,” he claims.

Architect Charles Moss, another resident, said before the plant opened there was never an odour problem. He said the smell is bad, particularly in the evenings. “Initially, no sewer treatment plant was supposed to go in that area, and now it is there, and it is causing a nuisance,” he said.

“Under the Port Authority Building Code, if there is a nuisance they should come in and take care of the nuisance, and they have not. There is definitely a smell, and it is definitely coming from the sewage treatment plant,” he claimed.

Willrow Strachan, a former resident of Chesapeake who lived at Lightning Road for five years, said he had to close his windows because of the stench. “They were telling us that it was coming from the pond, but when I walked past the plant in the mornings, I would smell the odour,” he said.

Shuffel Hepburn Jr has lived in the area for the past three years, and claims that he has witnessed and taken photographs of raw sewage spills at the plant. “I can’t tell you the last time I have opened up my windows. I take my health very seriously and the smell has bothered me every since I have moved here, and it has become more frequent in the past year,” he said.

“Over a year ago, I have gone and taken photos and footage myself of the waste and documenting everything,” said Mr Hepburn, who is thinking of submitting them to a colleague pursuing graduate studies in the environment programme at the University of Florida.

Mr Hepburn said odours are common for any waste water treatment facility when it is not properly treated. “It is an obvious problem (here) and I think is wrong for anyone to say it is not coming from the sewage plant,” he said.

His father, Shuffel Hepburn, said if the odour is coming from the pond, then officials should address the problem. “From day one, their approach has been the pond; they own the pond, and if it is such a nuisance to the residence of the area, why don’t they do something about it?”

The plant handles raw sewage from all the hotels on the Lucaya strip. Officials say it can handle 1.2 million gallons of sewage daily.

Arthur Jones, an official at the Grand Bahama Port Authority, admitted that there was a spill two years ago, but no further spills have occurred since then. He also said when incidents occur at the plant, they are addressed immediately.

Mr Hepburn claims that there have been numerous spills. “They have admitted to at least one spill, but we have evidence of quite a few spills over the years, particularly during 2013 and 2014.” He said complaints were made to the Department Environmental Health in late 2013.

Geron Turnquest, manager of GBUC Ltd, has refuted Mr Hepburn’s claims and said his company wanted to assure the public that its waste water treatment plant “operates in accordance with industry standards and does not pose any threat to human health or the environment. It is of utmost importance to the Utility Company to operate the plant in a manner that utilises the best management practices available for the industry like any other waste water treatment plants in the Bahamas,” he said in a recent statement.