THE FIRM responsible for creating an odour that made people physically vomit has apologised.

Thermo Fisher, who owned up to causing the issue in Daneshill last week, also said that they were going to reassess the impact of odours caused by their work.

As previously reported in the Gazette, workers on Wade Road complained of a sulphur-like smell, saying that it was making people heave and, in some cases, physically be sick.

One person told the Gazette last Monday: “It came all of a sudden.

“It does keep happening and it’s not really fair.”

Residents and workers in the same area also had to deal with a similar break-out last summer, this time lasting for weeks.

Now, the company behind the stench have apologised and reassured the public that these events are taken “very seriously”.

A spokesperson for the American biotechnology firm said: “Thermo Fisher would like to apologise for the recent odour emission from the effluent treatment system at Wade Road on 13 January 2020.

“The incident was the result of a loose treatment system filter which Thermo Fisher has now rectified. These filters are replaced regularly in a planned maintenance schedule and this incident was not related to the condition of the filter itself.

“Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s environmental services department have been kept up to date regarding the incident and have been notified the issue has now been resolved.

“We take all such incidents of this nature seriously and Thermo Fisher is working hard on delivering additional improvements to our effluent plant and odour management systems to prevent future odour emissions at our Wade Road site.”

The spokesperson also added that the company takes “all such occurrences very seriously and are working hard on improvements to our effluent plant and our odour management systems, to prevent future odour emissions from our site”.

They said the sulphur smell is a by-product of their waste treatment system, and that all fumes are passed across a carbon filter pack before being released into the atmosphere.

Environmental impacts were initially prepared in 2011, as part of the original project to install the waste water treatment plant.

“However, in light of recent events we are now conducting a new odour impact assessment with an external consultant in order to update our odour management plans,” the spokesperson continued.

“Once this has been completed, we will share our updated odour management plan with residents and workers. We expect to complete the odour impact assessment and corresponding odour management plan by the end of the first quarter of this year.”

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Head of Environmental Services said: “We have been working closely with Thermofisher Scientific and taken advice from Public Health England on the emissions following the installation of the treatment facility and we are satisfied that levels are much lower than those that could pose a risk to health.”