Anglian Water emergency tankers pump sewage out of Corby river in four-day clean-up
Emergency tankering to clear up a huge sewage spill which started on Monday has been continuing today (Thursday).
Raw sewage has been pouring into storm drains from a broken pipe believed to be in Welland Vale Road into the ‘Northern Stream Water Body’ – a stream that emerges near Rockingham Road and Babbage Crescent.
Residents have reported smelling a foul odour coming from the brook that leads to the balancing lakes off Stephenson Way Park.
Tanya Laurie, who lives overlooking the scene, first noticed the tankers on Monday and said there has been a constant flow of traffic 24-hours a day.
She said: “On Monday there were pink and other colour tankers that said ‘hazardous waste’ on them. Yesterday they changed to green tankers with ‘non-hazardous’ waste on them.”
Mrs Laurie contacted Anglian Water about the disruption.
She said: “It’s been all through the night.”
It is understood that the broken sewer has been repaired, but the backlog of waste needs to be flushed through the surface water drainage system.
Bales of straw have been placed as a dam across the water course to allow the discharging effluent to be sucked up into the tankers, and not pass through into the brook.
A map showing the affected area on the Anglian Water website shows an area including Rockingham Road, Stanier Road and Pen Green Lane.
Anglian Water’s spokeswoman said: “We're carrying out emergency tankering work in the Rockingham Road, Stanier Road, and Pen Green Lane areas.
"As part of ongoing investigations into one of our surface water drains, we're using additional tankers in the area as a preventative measure to help protect the environment.
“We understand that tankers can be large and noisy, and we're sorry for any disruption this may cause. Our teams will do their best to keep any inconvenience to a minimum while the work takes place.”
The Environment Agency has also been contacted for a statement.