Tara Murray
AkzoNobel is hoping to have interim measures in place this week to improve air quality in Sunshine North.
The company was ordered earlier this year by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria to install an air motioning program after complaints from nearby residents about odours and noise.
The EPA said it had received an increased number of complaints from residents in the Sunshine North community throughout 2020.
Investigations found the odour and noise was from the resin manufacturing plant of AkzoNobel, in McIntyre Road.
AkzoNobel was previously issued with remedial notices in 2019. The company received an official warning from the EPA in 2020 for not complying with the notice.
In an email to residents, Independent Community Engagement Facilitator Jen Lilburn, said she had been advised that they were expecting to have a carbon filter operational by the middle of this week.
It’s hoped that the filter will make a discernible difference to air quality.
Akz Nobel is in the process of building an air treatment system to control odour, which the supplier has said gets rid of 99 per cent of the smell associated with the resins.
The news comes as a community meeting set down for this week has been postponed. The meeting was set to be the first in-person meeting since they began earlier this year.
The meeting will be rescheduled for a time when in-person meetings are allowed.
Details: www.akzonobel.com/en/countries/Australia.
