The environmental licenses of a piggery and two composting businesses on Gull Road, Nambeelup, are under review after residents as far away as Mandurah complained of foul odours.
A Department of Environment Regulation (DER) spokesperson confirmed the investigation into the odour controls of Nambeelup Piggery, and composting facilities C-Wise and Mushroom Exchange, which are co-located on the same premises.
“The department is undertaking a coordinated review of the operations of the three facilities and their licences, to determine whether the conditions are adequate to address the risk of unreasonable odour emissions from their premises,” the spokesperson said.
“If the review finds that additional or different regulatory controls are required to address this risk, it is likely that the licences will be amended to impose further regulatory controls.”
The spokesperson said the review was launched two months ago in response to complaints by residents in Mandurah and Nambeelup.
Eric Anderson, an 84-year-old Silver Sands resident, said he and his neighbours had been regularly disturbed by a foul odour, always at night.
“The smell has been going on for many months; at least six,” he said.
“It’s a foul smell, like sewerage, and normally comes in about 9pm.
“Last week it was strong and quite prolific, so I went for a walk around the district and there were others out as well, wondering what it was.
“It was a filthy, vile smell.”
Mr Anderson said the smell had been so bad at night it had woken him early in the morning.
“I thought our sewerage was broken,” he said.
“It’s not only annoying, it’s unhealthy and it’s just not good enough.
“I’d hate to put a firm out of business, but the smell, it’s just intolerable.”
City of Mandurah acting chief Wido Peppinck said the City was aware of ongoing odour issues in parts of Lakelands, Meadow Springs, Greenfields and Parklands.
“The City has been working closely with the DER to respond to the community’s concerns,” he said.
He said the City believed the odour was coming from the DER licensed premises east of the Kwinana Freeway.
“The City’s role is to assist the DER where appropriate and provide advice and information to residents affected by the odour.”
A spokesperson for the Craig Mostyn Group, the Fremantle agricultural business that owns Nambeelup Piggery, said the company was aware of odour complaints, but that the odour could be emanating from any number of locations.
“We continue to work with the DER regarding the management of our environmental responsibilities,” he said.
A spokesperson for C-Wise said the company was working closely with the Department of Environment Regulation to renew its environmental licence, but were unaware the review was related to odour issues.
“The licence renewal process is normal practice and is not related to any other issues in the Mandurah region,” he said.
The DER spokesperson said that the review into the businesses would be completed by November.
Any person wishing to report unreasonable odours should contact the Department of Environment Regulation’s 24-hour Pollution Watch Hotline on 1300 784 782 or email pollutionwatch@der.wa.gov.au
