Foul smell of rotting eggs plaguing Hampshire community (From Daily Echo)

It would be wrong to suggest this has never happened in the area before. This is the result of climatic and wind direction changes and the nasty smell can be whiffed whenever the wind blows from the east.

Scientists believe the nasty smell is caused when skates live close together and a combination of the warm sun and in-breeding produce a nasty stench which has in this case been blown across to Fawley.

Carbon Dioxide.

Refinery cover up will exempt them from any wrong doing as usual

easterly wind coming from portsmouth!

Hydrogen sulfide (or hydrogen sulphide) is the chemical compound with the formula H2S. It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. It often results from the bacterial breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, such as in swamps and sewers (anaerobic digestion).

Above from Wikipedia.

Ashlett creek always was smelly due to the tidal flats. I'd guess it's just more of the same. When the residents stop smelling it is the time to worry (sense of smell gets overwhelmed)

Has Fawley refinery been ruled out?

looking at the words under the picture.
quote"PHEW!: Jolly Sailor landlord Jason Plank believes it is more than a natural phenomenon that has caused pollution in the creek."
well if the pollution is getting into the creek, then don't they think its time to empty the tidal ponds at the back of the old mill, this is what happens to ponds when the water is not change in a long while.
ashlett mill is what a true tidal mill looks like, tidal ponds that fill up every spring tide. the mil at ealing is not a true tidal mill, its just plain mill that sits in tidal waters with a stream to power it.

After years of living just around the corner from the Eling Tide Mill Southy nows says its not a tide mill after all.

Found this on the internet written by the people who used to run it.

http://web.archive.o
rg/web/2007111704102
8/www.elingtidemill.
wanadoo.co.uk/intro.
html

88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

When I first moved here five years ago I was plagued by violent migraines, I used to close all the windows and thought I would never get used to the strong smell from the refinery but, the same with most things you get used to it. It still makes me gag whenever I drive to Blackfield or Fawley and I close all the car windows. I think the constant droneing sound from the refinery annoys me at night much more than the smell does during the day, hey ho such is life what can you do about it?

espanuel wrote:
88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

I've worked in the refinery and they are always covering things up if you have been there 33 years you would no this only too well. This is down to Esso everybody knows thats. They are trying to say the oil is from the dead fish I don't think theres any fish in there that would cause the think black oil slick in the mill pound and also in the creek. They no they are responsible but but their never be held accountable for it.

RobJChase wrote:
After years of living just around the corner from the Eling Tide Mill Southy nows says its not a tide mill after all.

Found this on the internet written by the people who used to run it.

http://web.archive.o

rg/web/2007111704102

8/www.elingtidemill.

wanadoo.co.uk/intro.

html

i all ways said it, a true tidal mill do not have a stream to back up to produce power.
a true tidal mill is like the one at ashlett, it has tidal ponds that fill back up every spring tide, there very few of true tidal mills in the world, we are lucky to have ashlett mill on our door step to be able to compare the difference.
just because a mill sits on tidal waters it don,t make it a tidal mill.
what makes a tidal mill is the fact of the tidal ponds like at ashlett there use to be 6 tidal ponds at the back of the mill.
ealing dont have a tidal pond, it has a stream mill pond that is feed with water from the river rum, and a unnamed minor drainage ditch stream.
and if you check with old crown tax books it is described has a steam mill and not a tidal mill.
if ealing was a true tidal mill it could not be working for at lest 8 days out of 14 because the tide would never be able to fill up the pond when ever the tides are below spring tides.
all ealing is, is a stream mill that sits on tidal water.

RobJChase wrote:
After years of living just around the corner from the Eling Tide Mill Southy nows says its not a tide mill after all.

Found this on the internet written by the people who used to run it.

http://web.archive.o

rg/web/2007111704102

8/www.elingtidemill.

wanadoo.co.uk/intro.

html

Well if southy says so it must be true.

annoyed01 wrote:

espanuel wrote:
88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

I've worked in the refinery and they are always covering things up if you have been there 33 years you would no this only too well. This is down to Esso everybody knows thats. They are trying to say the oil is from the dead fish I don't think theres any fish in there that would cause the think black oil slick in the mill pound and also in the creek. They no they are responsible but but their never be held accountable for it.

i know this to well also annoyed, they do hide has much has they can, but the difference is what espanuel means is that it all gets reported just that it can not be found to easy by the general public, maybe they should be force to report all to news papers and making it an open book for all to see

Southy,
Did you have a look at the link above.

The 'pond' upstream from Eling Tide Mill is tidal, that's what makes it a 'Tide Mill'

They can indeed only mill when the tide is right.

Hampshire Mills group, who are the experts, list it as a 'Tide Mill'.

You might say "i all ways said it, a true tidal mill do not have a stream to back up to produce power" but the fact that you always say it does not make it true.

southy wrote:

annoyed01 wrote:

espanuel wrote: 88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

I've worked in the refinery and they are always covering things up if you have been there 33 years you would no this only too well. This is down to Esso everybody knows thats. They are trying to say the oil is from the dead fish I don't think theres any fish in there that would cause the think black oil slick in the mill pound and also in the creek. They no they are responsible but but their never be held accountable for it.

i know this to well also annoyed, they do hide has much has they can, but the difference is what espanuel means is that it all gets reported just that it can not be found to easy by the general public, maybe they should be force to report all to news papers and making it an open book for all to see

Your right, everything does get reported, looked into and then covered up this has been the same for years and should be changed they get away with far to much.

There are currently algae blooms happening all over the world causing major issues in some places.
Interestingly : The algae releases hydrogen sulfide gas, a poison known as "sewer gas" because it is often produced by the breakdown of waste material. At low levels, the gas smells like rotten eggs.

Last year there was a huge algae bloom in Langstone harbour, between chichester and portsmouth - the direction the smell appears to be coming from is also portmouth

http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/sciencetech/a
rticle-1207817/Coast
al-wildlife-threaten
ed-vast-seaweed-bloo
ms-caused-hot-rainy-
weather.html

Looks like the warm spring period and now the comming of winter, which causes the breakdown and gases may well be a cause of this.

RobJChase wrote:
Southy,
Did you have a look at the link above.

The 'pond' upstream from Eling Tide Mill is tidal, that's what makes it a 'Tide Mill'

They can indeed only mill when the tide is right.

Hampshire Mills group, who are the experts, list it as a 'Tide Mill'.

You might say "i all ways said it, a true tidal mill do not have a stream to back up to produce power" but the fact that you always say it does not make it true.

i did and did you check the domesdays books aka the crown tax books. when this mill was first built it is called a stream mill.
just because a mill sits in tidal waters do not make it a tidal mill.
a tidal mill do not have a stream or river or brook to feed into the mill pond like eling do, if eling did not have that stream to feed the mill pond then that mill would only be able to work about 6 days out of every 14 days.
a better description of eling would be a salt water mill where it uses both a stream and a falling tide. but its not a true tidal mill, tidal mills have tidal ponds only, thats why there very few of them and very few location where you can build them.

espanuel wrote:
88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

You must be one of the safety officers trying to protect your job seeing as you can not disguise the stentch of yet another cover up.Perhaps you should come clean about all the problems there but you havent got the guts so best you crawl away and hide in your little hut and bury your head.

Southy,

It's a Tide Mill. Its powered by water built up in a tidal pond at high water.

The present mill was built in 1780. In the Doomsday Book it may very well have been called a 'stream mill' but the english language moved on and the correct term now for the mill at Eling is a 'Tide Mill'.

Eling tide mill is the only working mill in the UK, still producing flour today, and possibly one of only 2 productive tide mills in the world!

Ref. The Eling Experence...
http://s277147633.we
bsitehome.co.uk/Elin
gmill.html

RobJChase wrote:
Southy,

It's a Tide Mill. Its powered by water built up in a tidal pond at high water.

The present mill was built in 1780. In the Doomsday Book it may very well have been called a 'stream mill' but the english language moved on and the correct term now for the mill at Eling is a 'Tide Mill'.

Eling tide mill is the only working mill in the UK, still producing flour today, and possibly one of only 2 productive tide mills in the world!

Ref. The Eling Experence...
http://s277147633.we

bsitehome.co.uk/Elin

gmill.html

Save your sanity. Just agree with him.

88Hythe, I'm afraid that Esso it not trying to cover anything up in this instance. The dunce from Spain needs to do his homework because he is definitely out of the loop. The mill pond does not fill and empty as it used to. It is now a nature reserve. The pond has suffered from decomposing weed etc that has rotted down, causing the stink. Esso, guided by the EA, is filling and emptying the pond to flush out the rotten material and stagnant water. A little knowledge in the hand of a fool, is certainly very dangerous. Back under your stone Espanuel.

Sir Ad E Noid wrote:
88Hythe, I'm afraid that Esso it not trying to cover anything up in this instance. The dunce from Spain needs to do his homework because he is definitely out of the loop. The mill pond does not fill and empty as it used to. It is now a nature reserve. The pond has suffered from decomposing weed etc that has rotted down, causing the stink. Esso, guided by the EA, is filling and emptying the pond to flush out the rotten material and stagnant water. A little knowledge in the hand of a fool, is certainly very dangerous. Back under your stone Espanuel.

Sir Ad got it right in one ...... why does everyone think its an ESSO conspiracy ?

By the way southy is one of the worse, always looks on the dark side instead of using a bit of savvy

Next they will say all the air pollution that causes dust over the cars etc comes from the sahara desert.It is all cannon fodder that is why it smells around the refinery.

flower49 wrote:
When I first moved here five years ago I was plagued by violent migraines, I used to close all the windows and thought I would never get used to the strong smell from the refinery but, the same with most things you get used to it. It still makes me gag whenever I drive to Blackfield or Fawley and I close all the car windows. I think the constant droneing sound from the refinery annoys me at night much more than the smell does during the day, hey ho such is life what can you do about it?

I think you probably should have done some homework before moving to the area. The refinery has been around for nearly 60 years (longer if you count the old AGWI) and has been very prosperous for the Waterside area and it's residents.

Sounds like the usual Waterside, how can the stench get any worse?

southy wrote:

annoyed01 wrote:

espanuel wrote: 88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

I've worked in the refinery and they are always covering things up if you have been there 33 years you would no this only too well. This is down to Esso everybody knows thats. They are trying to say the oil is from the dead fish I don't think theres any fish in there that would cause the think black oil slick in the mill pound and also in the creek. They no they are responsible but but their never be held accountable for it.

i know this to well also annoyed, they do hide has much has they can, but the difference is what espanuel means is that it all gets reported just that it can not be found to easy by the general public, maybe they should be force to report all to news papers and making it an open book for all to see

Yes because we all know that newspapers only print facts!!

88hythe wrote:

espanuel wrote: 88hythe, why do you say that? do you work at the Refinery? I have for 33yrs and when there is a problem it cannot be covered up as everything has to be reported. As they say,A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE FACTS.It could be the crap coming from your toilet, I'm being very polite.

You must be one of the safety officers trying to protect your job seeing as you can not disguise the stentch of yet another cover up.Perhaps you should come clean about all the problems there but you havent got the guts so best you crawl away and hide in your little hut and bury your head.

You have no idea what you are talking about

EM27, wrote:
Sounds like the usual Waterside, how can the stench get any worse?

We can just import you lot from scumhampton over here !

Hi Southy I also think you are right about the source of the problem. Over here on the Hamble there is an occasional problem with weed and algae dumped by the spring tode which then rots down in warm weather and smells quite like sewage. I've been to Ashlett club a few times this summer and the mill pond doesn't seem to get much seawater circulation. If the algae builds up it is not pleasant stuff.

forest hump wrote:

flower49 wrote: When I first moved here five years ago I was plagued by violent migraines, I used to close all the windows and thought I would never get used to the strong smell from the refinery but, the same with most things you get used to it. It still makes me gag whenever I drive to Blackfield or Fawley and I close all the car windows. I think the constant droneing sound from the refinery annoys me at night much more than the smell does during the day, hey ho such is life what can you do about it?

I think you probably should have done some homework before moving to the area. The refinery has been around for nearly 60 years (longer if you count the old AGWI) and has been very prosperous for the Waterside area and it's residents.

I did say I got used to it,but you can't tell me anybody who lives in Waterside likes the smell of the refinery, and I didn't need to do any homework thank you, you see I moved here from Thornhill and anywhere would be better than that cespit.

The smell of Esso is the smell of filthy lucre not H2S. Personally I quite like it.

Interesting to hear that they are flushing the tidal pools. Anything on the web about it?

Spot, The information about flushing the mill pool and the reason for the smell was, I believe, an internal communication in the refinery.

Sorry - it must have been the chilli sauce in my kebab.

SW is wind-meal !!

flower49 wrote:

forest hump wrote:

flower49 wrote: When I first moved here five years ago I was plagued by violent migraines, I used to close all the windows and thought I would never get used to the strong smell from the refinery but, the same with most things you get used to it. It still makes me gag whenever I drive to Blackfield or Fawley and I close all the car windows. I think the constant droneing sound from the refinery annoys me at night much more than the smell does during the day, hey ho such is life what can you do about it?

I think you probably should have done some homework before moving to the area. The refinery has been around for nearly 60 years (longer if you count the old AGWI) and has been very prosperous for the Waterside area and it's residents.

I did say I got used to it,but you can't tell me anybody who lives in Waterside likes the smell of the refinery, and I didn't need to do any homework thank you, you see I moved here from Thornhill and anywhere would be better than that cespit.

I might be peculiar or unique but I actually like the smells of industry - always have. When I was small lad coming into Southampton on the (steam) train provided all kinds of weird, frightening (to a small boy) and exciting smells - I even liked the smell of the old Pirelli factory where West Quay now stands. I am downwind of Fawley now and once in a while we get an occasional oil based smell but I've never found it unpleasant. I still go out of my way to wind down car windows when I pass asphalt laying machinery and I love the smell of house fires bonfires, fence creosote, varnish, yes even glue.... you name it. And after inhaling that lot I am still completely fit and healthy!

latest is, since I live here, things are improving. Esso fire station are blasting sea water from the fire pad into the pond which will dilute the water ready to be flushed through again via a high tide into the creek. Smelly times are over ..... and by the way lake windemere had the same problem recently which resulted in the annual swim across the lake to be cancelled due to health concerns.

Why are people so obsessed with conspiracy theories?
What exactly is it that Esso are covering up? That the refinery smells? That it produces dust? IT'S A REFINERY, of course it smells. I have little sympathy with people who move into the area and then complain about a facility that's stood there (in one guise or another) for 100 years.
As I understand it, the Environment Agency have been working with Esso to resolve the problem so I'm not sure exactly how they can cover anything up. Unless, of course, the conspiracy theorists believe that the regulatory body who's job it is to monitor the refinery and enforce environmental legislation is also involved in the cover up.