| Status | in recovery |
|---|---|
| Incident date | November 2019 |
| Locations affected | Kealba, Keilor, Keilor Downs, Kings Park, St Albans, St Albans East, Sunshine, Sunshine North, Taylors Lakes |
Barro Group update
We have banned Barro Group from accepting waste and starting landfill operations at the Sunshine landfill in Kealba. We have also informed Barro Group of our intention to begin the process of suspending their licence.
We do not believe that Barro has the systems in place to manage the risks from their operations to keep the community safe.
Barro is entitled to make submissions, which we will consider before making our decision.
We have informed the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) that we can no longer defend the revocation of Barro’s previous operating licence. That licence was based on hotspot remediation and 3 of the 4 hotspots are now remediated.
We are holding Barro to account with new and broader regulatory actions, which have already started.
Barro cannot accept waste or operate the landfill. They must remediate the final hotspot to comply with the new Environmental Action Notice.
Planning issues and land use decisions around the site have been complex. Local Government approved the planning permit but has since raised concerns about the site. Local Government was not successful in challenging Barro Group in 2015 in relation to the land use permit. We are working with the Local Government to see if there are other planning avenues available in relation to land use at the Kealba site.
We continue to have concerns about the suitability of this site due to its proximity to residential areas. Our regulatory actions reflect a broader approach, beyond site remediation to hold Barro Group to account.
Further information can be found in our media release.
Most recent inspection
We inspected the site on Friday, 28 November 2025, and did not detect odour onsite. We also noted that work to progress on the environmental audit recommendations is required, and that onsite remediation and management has progressed as required.
Odour reports have reduced significantly – and this may be a blend of both reductions in odour as well as community fatigue in reporting. Please keep reporting odour pollution if this is an issue for you.
Incident summary
Since November 2019, odour from the Kealba landfill has been impacting communities to the north and west.
The odour has come from hotspots – areas of high temperature deep within the landfill cells. These hotspots are likely to be caused by oxygen entering the landfill, resulting in the combustion of old, decomposing waste.
Oxygen is likely to have entered the Kealba landfill through:
- exposed, external side walls
- the leachate drainage layer. This layer extended up the clay liner bund and was exposed to the air.
- leachate sump risers being surrounded with gravel instead of low permeability soil.
Following our compliance action, 3 of the 4 hotspots have been extinguished.
Our priority is preventing and minimising any harm to community health.
Our role
As Victoria’s independent environment regulator, our role is to monitor and enforce compliance with the Environment Protection Act 2017(opens in a new window).
We're responsible for making sure businesses prevent or control pollution and improve the quality of the environment. This includes regulating activities that may cause harm to human health or the environment.
Learn about our role in:
We work with government and other authorities to respond incidents. Learn more about who we work with.
Health information
We acknowledge the odour from the site can be offensive. Community members have reported physical symptoms, which are contributing to significant community distress. Symptoms include:
- sore throat
- headache
- nausea
- stinging eyes
- triggering of asthma symptoms
- impacts to wellbeing, mental health and quality of life.
Odours can stimulate the central nervous system. This can cause short-term physiological effects, including triggering of asthma symptoms. Our monitoring of the air around the site indicates that the long-term risk to health from odour exposure is very low.
Our noses are sensitive and often pick up odour long before there is any health risk. Although there may be some short-term effects, in most cases odours from landfill hotspots do not impact long-term community health.
If you feel unwell or distressed
- Call NURSE-ON-CALL(opens in a new window) on 1300 60 60 24
- Visit a doctor
- Visit Medicare Mental Health to find mental health resources from trusted service providers, including Lifeline(opens in a new window) and Beyond Blue(opens in a new window).
Information for local doctors
We recognise how important local doctors are in providing care for residents who may have health concerns about the odour.
We have provided information to assist general practitioners working with those impacted by the odour at Kealba landfill.
Visit the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry(opens in a new window) for more information about environmental odours.
Report pollution
Help us to prevent harm to human health and the environment.
Our response
We continue to inspect and regulate the site, assess potential off-site odour impacts, and provide updates to the community.
Stay informed
We update our website with our response to the Kealba landfill.
Updated