Foul smells continue to waft across north- western suburbs despite the Environment Protection Authority inspecting the operations of two businesses in Deer Park.
The EPA has foreshadowed long-term works by the businesses after visiting Boral’s Deer Park landfill and landscape garden supplier Pinegro as part of its investigations into odour issues.
A spokeswoman said the authority had identified several potential odour sources.
As reported by the
Weekly, the EPA has received dozens of reports of bad smells lingering for hours at a time in Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Truganina and Derrimut.
Residents objecting to Boral’s plans to expand operations at the site described the smells as ‘‘like having a garbage truck parked outside your house’’.
“It was fine over the Christmas period, but since then it’s been really bad,” former Sunshine mayor Marion Martin said.
“And it’ll be 10 times worse once they complete their expansion.
“I’ll admit Boral is trying to do something about it … I’m not sure how they’re going to solve it.”
In November, Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn called on the EPA to do something about an “intolerable situation for many thousands of people”.
An EPA spokeswoman said the authority was working with the businesses to find solutions and would ‘‘issue formal notices reflecting the agreed actions’’.
“While these sites may be contributing to the odour experienced by residents, we will continue to monitor the situation to identify other possible sources,’’ she said. “Based on our experience with complex odour issues, it is expected that there will be a combination of short-term and longer-term work required.
‘‘We will continue to rely on the community to help us gauge the effectiveness of the solutions.”
Residents are being urged to attend a community meeting on February 26 from 7pm at Catholic Regional College in Caroline Springs.
The application, which has been publicly advertised, is still being assessed by council officers.
A Boral spokesman said the company was improving its gas extraction systems and had no immediate plans to increase the amount of waste it received. He said nothing had changed with regards to the company’s expansion application since late last year.
