By Marcus Uhe
The ongoing odour issue caused by SBI Landfill does not present long term adverse health affects, and residents can expect the strength of the odour to reduce over the next few weeks.
These were two of the key messages from representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conveyed in an hour-long online information session on 14 July for residents affected by the “rotten eggs” smell emanating from the Ballarto Road site.
In a question-and-answer forum, representatives from SBI, the City of Casey and the EPA fielded written questions submitted by those impacted by the smell, caused by hydrogen sulphite gas mixing with uncovered pooled water at the landfill.
When asked about whether residents should expect any long term health effects Health Scientist Jason Issa said that exposure to the issue can cause a number of immediate issues including headaches, nausea and coughing.
“There is no indication that this odour has any long term adverse health effects,” Mr Issa said.
“Our health guidance is always based on scientific evidence available at a given time.
“For this landfill, odours were assessed by odour experts who have been trained to detect and assess odour emissions. I’ll acknowledge how unpleasant this odour has been but it is important to note that hydrogen sulphite odours can be smelt at a much lower concentration in the air, than that at which a very harmful health effect is likely to occur, which is probably the situation here.”
Mr Issa recommended minimising exposure to the odour by keeping windows and doors shut, and seeing a doctor if you had concerns.
“When there is no noticeable odour, it’s probably a good idea to try to ventilate your home when you have the chance by reopening the windows and doors and getting some clean air,” he said.
In what is sure to provide an element of relief, Steve Pugh, Regional of South Metropolitan region for the EPA said the EPA and SBI are working towards a “key milestone” of late August for the issue to be fixed.
“One of the notices that we’ve issued to SBI required a range of actions to be implemented to address this issue and ultimately prevent offensive odours from being discharged beyond the site,” Mr Pugh said.
“That notice is due for compliance at the end of August, 24th of August off the top of my head.”
The process of removing of the water is well underway, with Paul Williamson, co-owner of SBI Lanfill telling the information session that they had been trucking the problematic water off-site, which was “80 per cent” completed as of 14 July, with hopes to have it completely removed “by the end of next week”.
Mr Pugh said removing the water will help to reduce the odour.
“But really that notice deadline is probably the key date that we’re working towards at the moment, at the end of August.”
Mr Williamson did not shy away from taking responsibility for the odour and apologised for the inconvenience caused.
“We realise that you have been through a really difficult time in the last few weeks,” Mr Williamson said.
“We acknowledge what has happened, and we apologise for the impacts this has had on your lives, and your families’ lives.
“We’re been working around the clock to address these issues and we won’t stop until it’s completely resolved.”
Initial treatment options, including aerating the stagnant pool of water, as suggested by experts, were unsuccessful, according to Mr Williamson, which was followed by having the water removed off site.
“During this time we’ve also been applying an odour suppressant to form a barrier over the water, which the effect had is the evaporation occurs during the day, as the suppressant mixes with the odour and reduces its severity.
“Simon (Williamson, co-owner) and I want to reassure you that we’ve put everything into treating the odour at the source, and we’re also looking at further preventative measures, reviewing our current processes, practices and systems, to make sure we have everything in place to prevent this issue happening again.”
Mr Pugh said that SBI’s response to the issue has been “positive” and therefore did not feel the need to escalate their enforcement mechanisms to the point of shutting the site down.
“We simply don’t feel that the situation at hand, as of right now, directs us to take that approach to stop the site from operating,” Mr Pugh said.
“Furthermore, it wouldn’t stop the odour, we would still need to continue to monitor and actually prevent the issue from occurring.
“Nevertheless we continue to review our regulatory approach as this issue evolves and progresses to make sure that we’ve got appropriate, proportionate regulatory measures in place to protect human health and the environment.”
The EPA encourages residents to keep reporting odour when they experience it by calling 1300 372 842 and reporting as much information as they can.
More information on the issue can be found at epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/incidents/sbi-inert-landfill
