Brooklyn odour investigation

EPA recently investigated a spike in odours in the Brooklyn area that were impacting on the community.

EPA received more than 40 reports from the public about odours in the Brooklyn and Altona North area over 5 days in late July.

EPA senior manager environmental services Matt Vincent said “there was a rapid rise in the number of reports, which EPA officers isolated to equipment failure at meat processing company Australian Tallow in Geelong Rd.

The company was directed by EPA to immediately stop using a particular piece of machinery until it could be demonstrated that it would not produce offensive odours. The company cooperated with EPA and committed to carrying out works to ensure it doesn’t pose a problem into the future.

Mr Vincent said EPA acknowledged this was not going to fix all the odour issues in the area but believed it was a step in the right direction.

“It is our expectation that companies will publicly acknowledge when they have an issue and will inform both EPA and the community when something goes wrong.”

Australian Tallow spokesman Craig Palmer said at the time a fire in a key piece of equipment was the main issue impacting on odour control performance.

“We agreed to close the line down until works were completed to rectify the situation. I apologise to the community for the impact this has had on them.

“Our priority is also in completing a new Biofilter that will give us extra capacity to treat odours.”

EPA will continue to monitor the situation.

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