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Attendance: Douglas Lyons, Colin Beattie MSP, Jenny Gray, Moira Cartwright (Midlothian Council), Shona Grant (East Lothian Council), Ann Stewart-Kmicha (Dalkeith & District Community Council), Anne Hyatt (Roslin and Bilston Community Council), Steven Boon (Scottish Water), Scott Fraser (Scottish Water), Claire Tochel (Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association), Rachael Langfield (Coal Authority), Ross Hughes (Forth Rivers Trust), Nim Kibbler (Forth Rivers Trust), Frazer McNaughton (Nature Scotland), Chris Gall (SEPA), Katrina Wilson (SEPA), John Oldham (Esk Valley Trust), Pauline Crerar (Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association), Rebecca Lewis (Buglife), Craig Macadam (Bug Life), Joy Godfrey (ENCC),
Apologies: Peter Finnie (SEPA), Derek Oliver (Midlothian Council), Carolyn Freeman (NEC), Anna Griffin (SEPA), Neil Clark (SEPA), Paul Butler (SEPA), Audrey Murray (EnjoyLeisure), Rachel Warrington (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Roger Crofts, Edel Ryan (Midlothian Council)
 

Welcome
CB welcomes everyone to the meeting and previous minutes were approved.
 
1.Scottish Water – Steven Boon and Scott Fraser
Update on Water Resources - SF
 
In Scotland, five of the last six months have seen below average rainfall. On a national level, reservoir levels are at 76% of capacity, the average for this time of year is about 82%. In the East of Scotland, reservoir levels are at 68%.
 
CB asks how flexible are they in accessing the 76% national water levels for the regions that have shortages?
 
SF answered that they are quite flexible and have invested in resilience, the ability to move water around from one area to another. They have investment planned in the coming years to be able to maintain supplies.
 
SF addresses recent questions received about the low water levels at Gladhouse Reservoir. Water levels are just below 50% of capacity. Levels are artificially low due to construction work that are currently being undertaken. Following planned construction work at Gladhouse reservoir next year, (for which a planning application will be submitted), reservoir levels will increase.
 
On water consumption. Over the past three months, Scottish Water have undertaken media communications and community engagement work around water saving campaigns. They plan to link water usage with energy use and commented that round 50% of household energy is used on water.
 
CB asks how Scottish Water keep track of water capacity, to be able to match the increased demand resulting from the significant number of houses being built in Mid and East Lothian?
 
SF replies that they work closely with the Local Authorities on their local development plans to understand how many properties are being connected and during what time periods.
 
SF added they are always looking at treatment works and their capacity to meet demand. They work with developers to provide information about water usage to new homeowners, as this is an opportunity to think about water usage.
 
AH asked what work is done identifying and rectifying leakages, which are of a concern to the community?
 
SF explained that a huge amount of work is undertaken to try and identify and rectify leakages. Scottish Water lose 25% of the water that they treat and supply. By using monitoring equipment, they can undertake network analysis to see where changes in demand might identify a leak. They still have leakages, and they would like to reduce them.
 
Scottish Water Update following recent spills - SB
 
Impacted by storm condition rainfall after a dry period. They look to react as quickly as possible to issues, resolve them and then look to see if there are any improvements that can be done.
 
Newbattle Abbey Crescent 

• Raw discharge from manholes on to land after a dry period followed by heavy rainfall.
• What was found by the ground team were soft chokes. Which were predominantly made up of fat, grease and wipes.
• This was cleared as quickly as possible and no structural issues were found.

 
Near Hardengreen (in a field)

• Cleared up spill at the outfall and couldn't find any soft chokes or blockages there.
• The ground team CCTV’d the whole network and found what looks like a wheel within the sewer.
• They were unable to move the blockage and will soon dig down on top of it for removal.

 
Near the Sun Inn

• some discharge from a manhole to land in a wooded area.
• grease and rags had caused a blockage and were cleared quickly.

 
Iron Mills Road

• had some grey water reported on 30th of August
• on 31st of August a soft choke of fat, soil, grease and rags was cleared

 
Lord Ancrum’s Wood and potential future project.

• A spill reported on 1st September. The team attended and undertook a clean-up.
• Proposed new CSO with 500 m3 of storage which is nearing the point of construction.
• They are discussing where the outfall would be. At the existing point or a new point within the PFI.
• Added that this is a good step forward with regard to a new CSO and storage capacity.

 
SB added after a period of dry weather with lower flows, anything that's in the sewer network that shouldn't be in there, can be difficult to flush away. Following heavy rainfall, it will flush through, gather up and cause soft chokes.
 
CB asked if the fairly extensive outflows at Newbattle Abbey Crescent were only caused by the soft choke blockage, or was it an inevitable outcome of the way that the system works?
 
SB explained that ultimately high flows will have caused the blockage. If there hadn't been a soft choke, the modelling tells them the network would have been able to deal with high flows. and that he would have expected it would have discharged upstream rather than from manholes.
MC asked about CCTV work that was undertaken at NAC on 29th of August as a work order was raised.
 
SB replied that it sounds like they have found some roots. There is regular root cutting in this area as root ingress can be a cause of soft chokes.
 
CB asked if they think people are paying attention to campaigns in schools and public leaflets about not putting inappropriate material in the system?
 
SB answered that they have had less events they had before. Previously they were having regular events in normal conditions. Recently, they have had events in storm conditions. Adding that it sounds like the community are listening to what they are saying
 
SF notes that it is difficult to quantify from a campaign in terms of results. They have had less chokes this year. Adding they have another wave of the ‘nature calls’ campaign with TV advertising, radio and social media going live later in October.
 
CB asked if Scottish Water have any evidence that campaigns done through schools are more effective than just generally campaigning?
 
SF explained that they try and network with schools, and they get more requests to attend schools than Scottish Water can fulfil. They have education packs teachers can use on iPads.
 
CB notes that there is a strong feeling among the public that we should be moving towards eliminating outflows of sewage. Is that a long-term policy?
 
SB explains that CSO's are needed in the network. What is needed is to reduce the number of events that happen. Coupled with proactive work, shortening the window to react and getting monitors on outfalls. So as soon as there is a discharge, they know about it and fix it. There are 1000 new monitors going out around Scotland and some will be targeted in this area. In the future a smart network could show an increase in flows before it discharges.
 
CB notes that while reducing spills is commendable, in the longer term, we need to see some plans to eliminate spills.
SB states that they could head off anything at source that is not meant to go down the network. Then it will discharge in houses. Improving how the network operates and campaigns to stop things going down into the network that are at the root cause of spills.
 
JG asked about the new CSO with 500m3 storage. Where will that be located?
 
SB states that the proposal is near the new primary school. Right now, that is just a proposal.
 
JO asked in reference to Newbattle Abbey Crescent (NAC). Are Scottish Water saying that there is no infrastructure remedy planned at NAC and that the remedies are to do with improved monitoring and a more rapid response?
 
SB answered. The right thing is to have an understanding of the network, identification of a particular issue and react quickly. There was nothing he could comment on with regard to a specific issue at NAC. There is work going on there and with developers that he would have to come back on. For NAC no issues have been raised with him with regards to that network. Drainage impact assessments have been done and subsequently no issues were raised that he needs to resolve.
 
SF added that they have created new information videos (on their website) around wastewater and how the system works. SF commented that members may share it and use as appropriate. 
 
2.Forth Rivers Trust – Ross Hughes
During the summer they ran presentations and walks along the river, attended by over 150 people. Topics include mini-beasts, wildlife living along the sides of the river and invasive plant species.
 
They are running evening presentations to do with Outfall Safari. This is a Citizen Science engagement project. Looking to run an Outfall Safari on the South Esk at the end of October.  Volunteers will survey sections of the river looking for pipes that are coming into the river. They will make a note of where those are, doing a quick assessment grading them in terms of what their discharge looks like and highlighting ones that are potentially an issue.
 
They are also running presentations looking at eels on the Esk and one on invasive plant species.
 
RH shared feedback from the walks, that people had been surprised at the impacts that they were seeing and hearing about on the Esk. But also nice stories of people who have lived on the Esk all their lives telling us how the river has improved. For example, seeing things like dippers and herons on the river.
 
SB asked if RH needed a GIS plot or a map of all our discharge points along the Esk?
 
RH answered that it would be useful to check they have the most up to date information.
 
NK asked if it is just CSO's or discharge points as well?
 
SB replied that it will have all discharge points from our assets. Adding if anyone sees discharge or wastewater, and it doesn't appear on the map, then then let us or SEPA know.
 
SB offered to send a pdf to Colin and he could distribute to the group.
 

 
3. Coal Authority - Rachael Langfield 
Mine Water Treatment Scheme at Bilston Glen. Currently reviewing recent work with contractors and consultants looking at costs and gap analysis within the scope. Undertaken a risk workshop and a cost benefit analysis.
 
Conversations with SEPA looking at catchment-based benefits approach and this will feed into the business case that they will present back to BEIS, detailing the increase in cost and showing parallel benefits.
 
Operations and technical team have been working on the project scope specifics, working on flow rates and redundancy. What they are working on is a refinement rather than complete re-work of the project. They are looking to meet BEIS for approval in January, with the contract being awarded around June. Some potential for this to accelerate.
 
River levels are currently low. Current chemistry - iron at 40-50 milligrams per litre and manganese is about 5 milligrams per litre. The latest flow data showing a small increase in flows.
 
CB asked what is the difference in the content of manganese and what does that mean?
 
RL offered to invite someone to the next meeting to discuss the chemistry as it currently stands. CB added that this would be interesting for the group.
 
AH Asked if they are going to treat the manganese initially.  RL agreed to check up on this.
 
CB asked what is the level of cost increases in the water treatment project?
 
RL explained that construction costs are currently £15 million. A 50% increase. Materials, chemical and power costs have increased. There has been an escalation across all their schemes that they are currently working on.
 
CB offered to provide a letter of support for the project, as he had previously done. RL agreed to provide bullet points as to what they would like to see in it.
 
JG asked if they needed letters of support from the Community Councils to try to get maximum support. AH also happy to consider anything else that can further the project. RL agreed to contact JG about this.
 
AH added talking about Bilston Glen causes confusion. This is Junkies Adit, Old Fordel in Dalkeith.
 
AH asked if renewable energy projects attached to the scheme could reduce the cost of running the plant, using the heat of the water. RL offered to ask that question.
 
There was a discussion requesting more information to be provided to the community from the Coal Authority on the water treatment project. NK suggested an A4 notice that could be laminated and tied up near the river would be helpful to explain to the public what is happening.
 
RL offered to send something soon and thanked the group for its patience. It is probably one of the largest projects that the Coal Authority has undertaken.

 
4. SEPA - Katrina Wilson 
CB begins with reference to recently submitted questions from Claire Tochel from Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association. CB asked if the questions from CT could be raised directly with the individual organisations and asked these organisations to come back, copying the group into the reply.
 
KW

• Burst water main at Gore Water, liaising with Scottish Water to ensure there is adequate mitigation.
• Fish Barriers - continues to be an ongoing issue with land ownership agreements. Advising the group that they can't proceed until the legalities are resolved, but they are hoping that this will be soon.
• Drought Impact - SEPA deal with industrial and agricultural side. At the moment the River Esk is at moderate water scarcity. The current SEPA advice to industry and agriculture is to reduce usage volume, stagger water abstractions with other operators and utilise other water supplies where possible.
• River Esk sitting at 30 days from being classified as significant water scarcity. Do not think this will impact.

 
CB notes that it is interesting to hear more about the farming community, which is a huge part of our remit. Are there other current constraints in the catchments for the Esk where agriculture is being impacted?
 
KW explains for the Esk, the water scarcity levels are moderate, (they have reduced, not to such an extent that is going to have a severe impact). Current advice is to try and reduce water usage. They have not served notices to farmers that they can't abstract from the Esk, but that is in place elsewhere (in Scotland).
 
NK asks what is the mitigation plan for Scottish Water on the Gore Water?
 
NK explained that she tracked down the burst water pipe to opposite Arniston house. The Scottish Water manager on site said that there was no requirement for them to put in mitigation. The incident had been going for 30 hours before she called SEPA and a large amount of soil had been washed into the river. NK noted concern that Scottish Water, in terms of its environmental requirements to not pollute, is not letting SEPA know when they need support.
 
KW added they have been speaking to Scottish Water since then for mitigations. Adding that officers and ecologists are out there. KW asked if Scottish water have an update?
 
NK asked if Scottish Water could let her know what they expect to do in terms of mitigation also what is their understanding of their management procedures for notifying SEPA?
 
CB asked if we could get an update on the Gore Water spillage to distribute to Members?
 
SF notes that following this meeting he will look into this and ask about what mitigations are being looked at and come back to the group.
 

 
5. East Lothian Council - Shona Grant 
Update on the Fisherrow Sands discharge from the former landfill at Newhailes.

• Officers have been working with SEPA and continue to do so.
• Contaminated land officer has carried out four rounds of sampling from the discharge sump at the base of the former landfill, the outfall pipe at the beach and a borehole that is on the site perimeter.
• The results so far indicate the presence of leachate from the landfill site, elevated levels of iron and manganese, which indicate the possible presence of mine water.
• The Coal Authority has confirmed that it is likely that the flow is due to groundwater percolating through unworked, shallow coal seams and entering the former landfill via a spring.  The Coal Authority are going to assist further in providing further detail on the groundwater regime.
• The contaminated land officer has another 8 rounds of monitoring planned. Then they will have a full year of data for analysis.
• Post monitoring, they will collate the sampling data and then do a risk assessment of the potential impacts of the discharge. Looking particularly at human health and environment.
• SEPA are also going to be assessing the impact on the wider water environment, as it is beside the sea wall.
• The risk assessment will inform the next steps to be taken and if any remediation is required.

 
Breakdown of sea defences at Morrison’s Haven

• Liaising with colleagues, including Tom Reed, (Head of Infrastructure) and waiting on confirmation where future inquiries regarding this matter need to be directed to. An individual will take up their post in the near future.
• Tom Reed confirmed that Scottish Government had approved funding for coastline and flood risk. The next step is the formation of a working group in order to look at risk and impact and determine how and when funding will be allocated to different projects across East Lothian.
• Morrison’s Haven was a historic Environmental Improvement Project, which was funded by the SDA, which is now Scottish Enterprise.

 
CB notes with regard to the discharge at Fisherrow Sands and potential impacts to human health. We have had NHS Lothian in before to give us reassurance on the human health risks at Junkies Adit. CB adding that he thinks it might be an idea to do that again when the assessments are complete. CB asks if they have an idea of when that will be?
 
SG replied that they will get advice from colleagues when the risk assessment are done in terms of how likely it is to cause a problem.
 
CB noted that once the assessments have been carried out on the discharges to land, he would like someone from NHS Lothian to speak to the group to give reassurance on the risks to human health. (Reassurances were given to ERIG by NHS Lothian on the human health risks of swimming in the Esk at a previous meeting).
 
CT and SG had a discussion around the issue of high bacterial counts from surface water at the outfall pipe on the beach. CT highlighted bacterial counts were mentioned in the report. CT will raise these points in questions to Scottish Water and SEPA and discuss at the next meeting.
 
6. Musselburgh  Flood Protection Scheme - No update 
7. Midlothian Council - Moira Cartwright 
Update on Environmental Crime Strategy - MC 

• Proposing to take on a third-party company who will provide environmental wardens who will deal with issues such as fly-tipping and littering.
• MC has been advised that the contract with the company that has been successful is currently with legal. After that they hope to be able to implement the crime strategy.
• They have established a contract for collection of abandoned vehicles with Daltons and that is up and running.
• SG has advised that her colleague is active in the National Serious Organised Crime Group, looking at emerging trends. Where there is a license consultation, then they will include that type of information.

 
CB asks if the third-party company that is being appointed will be dealing with environmental issues going forward? Such as pollution in the River Esk.
 
MC explains that this remains with EHO’s within the Public Health and Environmental Protection team or SEPA. However, they will look at any fly-tipping on land beside the Esk.
 
CB asked NK to comment on fly tipping garden waste on the river Esk.
 
NK comments that it is fairly common practice that people take their garden waste onto the riverbank and people don’t recognize that it is a form of fly-tipping.  NK added that she does not think there are issues with it in relation to dumping in the river. Planned trash screens as part of the MFPS may highlight if there are any problems with this.
 
MC added that she is not aware of an issue with garden waste being reported to Midlothian Council. Adding that witnessed evidence is needed of someone either carrying out the fly tipping or some evidence within the waste that links it to an individual. Midlothian Council have purchased some CCTV cameras which can be operated through lamp posts and are looking at purchasing a mobile CCTV system which they might be able to employ.
 
NK and MC discussed meeting to look at areas where there have been issues around garden waste/fly-tipping.
 
CB asked about garden waste in East Lothian. SG said there is not much evidence of garden waste being fly tipped, but ELC does not charge for garden waste.
 
8.Buglife - Rebecca Lewis - Volunteer coordinator for Riverfly on the River Esk.
RL provided an overview of Riverfly on the Esk project.
Riverfly on the River Esk is a Citizen Science project, operating for over three years in the community, monitoring the health of the river through surveys of macroinvertebrates or (Riverfly). This year they have also added on water testing. Riverfly on the Esk is managed, coordinated and trained through volunteers. The agenda is driven by the community.
Supported by funding from small grants from multiple organizations, including Musselburgh and District Angling Association, ENCC, CALA Holmes and Midlothian Council. Received support from multiple organisations and experts, CPA and Newbattle Abbey College, Earth Watch, Bug Life, Riverfly Partnership, Freshwater Biological Association, the Scottish Freshwater Hub and is currently hosted by the Esk Valley Trust.
 
All of the volunteers, no matter the background, that come into this process receive certified Riverfly Partnership training. The training takes approximately 6 hours and has a theory and a practical base.
They currently have 46 trained Riverfly partnership surveyors across Mid and East Lothian.
 
RL noted that the sharing of knowledge about the River Esk has put more focus on the river, inspiring more projects.
 
They have 9 sites established along the River Esk. The groups work autonomously. After they're trained, they are paired up with more experienced people and Rebecca offers support sessions to each of the groups to keep the confidence in what they're doing.
 
The project is building a baseline of information that can be used by agencies. All the data is opensource, so everybody has access to this.
 
The project works to increase community knowledge and understanding of the river ecology and function.  It reaches out further into the community and it allows people to join that wider climate conversation.
 
The Riverfly partnership aims to help fill the gaps in organisations. They take surveys every month.  SEPA sets a trigger level for each of the sites. If our data falls below that Trigger level, then they inform SEPA. It is an early warning system that hopes to minimise any damage by early intervention.
 
They are looking at the journey from the source to the sea. This year, they aim to establish at least four more survey sites along the Esk, working with four land owners in the area who are very supportive of the project. They are aiming for catchment scale and are almost there.
 
RL detailed the outreach work, working with John Muir Awards, with schools, support green flags and attending community events. The projects are designed to be as inclusive as possible. People with mobility issues can get involved.
 
It has been a successful case study within Scotland and received a lot of recognition across the UK.  Buglife want to create a Riverfly hub in Scotland and have been successful in getting funding.
 
Similar hubs exist already in England and they work really well with the agencies. Buglife is going to be presenting that opportunity to Scotland and will be starting to train up more groups to mimic what they are doing in Midlothian and East Lothian.  The new Buglife project is called ‘Guardians of our Rivers’ and will be launched in October.
Further information can be found at www.environment.gov.scot/get-involved/scottish-freshwater-hub/riverfly-on-the-esk/
CB - thanks RL, and welcomed her onto the ERIG group.
 
CG – Asked if they have route of communication to their ecologists for discussion of findings?  RL – answered that she is open to any contact and communications. It is already a good setup they have with SEPA.

 
 
9.AOB
 
PC asked for an update on the spill earlier this year.
 
KW there is an ongoing investigation, and they are limited on what information they can give.  When they do have information, they will provide it.
 
RF Asked about a request to find out who had mentioned at a previous meeting about an invasive plants monitoring group.  
 
CB CP can update us in terms of the invasive species within MFPS at the next ERIG meeting.
 
Jenny Gray confirmed 7/11/22 for the next meeting.
 
CB thanks all for attending
 
Meeting end

Attendance: Ben Sutherland, Colin Beattie MSP, Jenny Gray, Moira Cartwright (Midlothian Council), Anne Hyatt (Roslin and Bilston Community Council), Denni Kinnear (Scottish Water), Steven Boon (Scottish Water), Claire Tochel (Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association), Vicki White (SEPA), Katrina Wilson (SEPA), Peter Finnie (SEPA), Paul Butler (SEPA), Roger Crofts (Esk Valley Trust), Rachael Langfield (Coal Authority).
Apologies: Shona Grant (East Lothian Council), Joy Godfrey (Eskbank and Newbattle Community Council), Conor Price (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Rachael Warrington (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Ann Stewart-Kmicha (Dalkeith & District Community Council), Tom Mills (Coal Authority).

Welcome
CB welcomes the meeting and previous minutes were approved.
 
Scottish Water – Steven Boon and Denni Kinnear
CB asks how Scottish Water has been responding to the problem of water scarcity in light of new funding being made available by the Scottish Government to deal with private water supply sufficiency issues?
DK states that reservoir levels are at an average level of 86% for this time of the year, although it is slightly drier in the east. SEPA have been issuing some messaging focused on ground water which is mainly directed at businesses. As for private water supplies, we have a longstanding agreement with local authorities whereby if someone has any issues with their supply they should contact their local authority and they will contact Scottish Water, after which bottled water will be provided to those experiencing no water. There is a Scottish Government run project to connect private supplies to public supplies, in Scotland there is approximately 22,500 private water supplies which is quite a lot. The subject is quite complex, and it can be challenging to connect up private supplies due to the remote nature of many of these households. In Aberdeenshire, Scottish Water is also working with Scottish Government on an ongoing project in relation to this matter.
CB explains there has been quite a lot of understandable concern about the water supplies in the east of the country. We are not seeing any restrictions coming yet, is it anticipated they will come in at some point?
DK replies that if the water levels drop significantly then we would potentially do some messaging to those in the east, but at the moment they are not at that stage.
SB notes the ongoing messaging is about using water wisely. Scottish Water has consistently put that message out and giving simple and practical advice for customers such as not keeping sprinklers on all the time and washing your car less regularly and things like that. If there are opportunities for members to pass that on further, then it would be appreciated. Scottish Water are pretty quick to step up any drought incident groups when we see these problems arise, but not aware of any significant impact yet but operational colleagues are keeping a close eye on this.
CB notes there has been discussion in the past about increasing reservoir capacity, has that been considered?
SB states he cannot comment on that because he does not work on the water reservoir side of the organisation, but he could ask and report back to the group if that would be of interest.
CB responds that they certainly would be interested with knowing, the issues pertaining to relative drought in the east seems to be becoming a common feature.
SB explains there is work done well in advance of any problems they see coming on the horizon with regards to ensuring there is appropriate water distribution and treatment works capacity. Its not something Scottish Water can react to very quickly, so there is a lot of strategic work that is undertaken to ensure mitigations are all in place and there is adequate water being provided to the houses which are being built.
CB thanks SB for his input and asks if he can update on any operational activities.
SB reports there is no other specific issues to highlight to the group.
RC explains that with regards to reservoir capacity, the other side of this is that if we have rainfall if we can increase the capacity of the Esk catchment then that would be really good at being able to retain water in those areas rather than it flowing down the river.
CT asks SB if there was any further update on Eastfield Pumping Station? Understand the clean up was meant to be undertaken prior to bathing season, can SB clarify if this has all been completed?
SB confirms the works has now been completed. There will be some further works which they will do after bathing season, which is what they refer to as auxiliary work. This will mean that any other pipework and isolation valves which are okay for now will be replaced to enable them to do any further works post bathing season.
 
Forth Rivers Trust – Ross Hughes
RH confirms Citizen Esk has now launched and they are starting to carry out some engagement works including a series of walks along the river. Would encourage any members to pass on any information to the public and encourage them to engage with Forth Rivers Trust to give their feedback.
 
Coal Authority – Rachael Langfield
RL confirms permitted mine water treatment scheme development has now been granted by Midlothian Council. They are still facing challenges with regards to the increased flow costs, so they have recently met with SEPA to discuss that and to map a way forward. They are currently in a position where they are taking a paper to their ERT board where they will be asking for approval to go back to BEIS with a revised business case. They will also need to seek Crown Commercial Services approval because the costs will be around £15 million. Therefore, the re-tenders will probably happen in Q3 and the awarding of a build contract will hopefully be before the end of the financial year, but all of this is subject to BEIS approval.
CB enquires as to whether Coal Authority has been required to make any compromises in order to keep the project in budget.
RL explains this is the reason they are having to go back to BEIS because they have been unable to get the project within the original budget. Some of that is due to the differences in the flows and how they are going to address that, and the other part of that is down to increase in the rising cost of building materials. Following on from that is the running cost for the mine water treatment scheme once it has been completed on site. They are currently thinking somewhere in the region of £38 million, which is around 50% more than was originally agreed. They are looking at ways to value engineer the approach down but still make sure they keep within the needs of SEPA, so they don’t want to be doing half a job and making sure they get the outcome they need which is why they need extra money.
CB notes this seems like a huge increase in the costs, what primarily is driving that?
RL states the original maximum flow was 150Litres per second, but peak flows are now around 200 litres per second, so a significant increase in the plant capacity is needed. The average flows have also increased from around 100 litres per second to 120 litres per second. The influence of external costs is approximately £1.3million on the previous case. They are looking at redundancy within the scheme and seeing whether they can relax the specification around that piece in light of the new flows. A lot of the reason is we have got a years extra data so we are a bit more confident on future flows which has given a better understanding of what those additional costs will be.
CB replies that given the increase in the flow rate which has happened over a period of one year, will that continuing rise be an ongoing issue for the Coal Authority?
RL states that she doesn’t think so. They are looking to upgrade some of the monitoring equipment, but this has been an evolving situation and they are now confident that the 200 litres per second will achieve what they are looking for.
CB asks what Coal Authority intends to do with regards to the disposal of waste material?
RL responds this something they are working on in the background and have a couple of research and development projects as a way of clawing back some money. But the cost they have put in on this business case are based around what it is actually going to cost and any savings after that will come through.
CB notes that there are getting are initial indications that the material is just going to be buried.
RL states they are having some discussions at the moment with the environmental agency about disposal costs for ones in England because there is an issue around some of the waste disposal codes. That is something they are looking at but on a whole they are looking at alternatives rather than just send this material to a landfill.
CB comments that there must be a use for this material.
RL states that this is the piece of works which they are currently undertaking in regard to ochre. They have just completed phase one of the project and its awaiting phase two to start. There are different usages such as pigment and selling to sewage treatment works for anaerobic digestion, so they are hopeful there may have that outlet to sell the ochre on.
 
SEPA – Katrina Wilson
Fish Barriers – issues pertaining to land ownership permission has been progressing, this is critical to the works and its only once this has been resolved can SEPA begin the proposed work.
Shiel Burn – at a previous meeting it was raised about a discharge from the Steel Fabrication yard into the Shiel Burn. SEPA carried out a visit and no signs of pollution were found at the location. They discussed the issue with the site and information was issued about pollution and water discharge.
KW confirms that in late June SEPA investigated reports of discolouration on the river North Esk. Forth Rivers Trust was helpful in providing information to them, however the source was not established. A local resident said the cloudiness was typical of the river at this time of year, however they don’t have any further information to substantiate whether that was the case or not.
Pollution incident of January 14th, 2022 – continues to be a live criminal investigation and no further information can be provided at this stage.
CB notes his concern that the longer this investigation continues it may become more difficult to find and prosecute the perpetrators involved.
VW responds that this is not necessarily the case, there can be a lot going on in the background but due to the sensitive nature and the fact it is a live investigation there is not always much information that can be shared with the public.
 
East Lothian Council – Shona Grant
BS explains SG called him a few moments ago to send her apologies for the meeting but has been advised that she will provide him with a report to share with the group.
 
Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme – Rachael Warrington
CB confirms RW sends her apologies for the meeting but has provided him an update to share with the group.
BS reads out the following update to the group:

• Another productive meeting held with Fisherrow Harbour and Seafront Association on Tuesday 14th June to progress the design of the flood defence at the harbour.
• CP presented to the Esk Valley Trust on Thursday 23rd June, including the Scheme’s position on Natural Solutions.
• Stakeholder email update sent out Tuesday 5th July.
• Roads, Structures and Access Working group to reconvene on Wednesday 3rd August.
• Meeting held with ELC planning to discuss concept designs for the Pinkie Burn.
• Meeting arranged with SEPA is discuss the Scheme’s proposed approach to Pinkie Burn hydrology and the latest climate change guidance.
• Further bat and nesting bird surveys have been carried out.

 
Midlothian Council – Moira Cartwright
MC confirms she has nothing significant to update the group on at this time.
CB asks if any progress has been made on the formation of an environmental unit within Midlothian Council?
MC states that due to increased costs DO was required to go back to Council to ask for additional monies, but she has not received any further update from him on the outcome. An Environmental Crime Strategy has been designed which they hope to act upon, but they need the additional resources from Council to move that forward. There was an idea to do with bringing in a third-party company to provide the service which would essentially be self-funding from the fines issued from incidents of fly tipping or littering. Not exactly sure what the current situation is but MC confirms she is happy to update the group at the next meeting.
 
AOB
RH explains that he took a note at the previous meeting in relation to the forming of a group to the issue of invasive species in Musselburgh, asks if there are any further updates on this?
BS confirms it was CP that spoke about this in the previous meeting, advises that he will take an action point from this meeting to request the Scheme to update the group on progress with regards setting up this group at the next meeting.
CB thanks all for attending
Meeting ends 10:40am