The EPA held community information and consultation sessions on 6 August 2012 and 20 September 2012 to invite questions and feedback from the community. The EPA and operators of waste facilities in the area also provided information and answered questions.
In August 2012, the EPA engaged an expert odour consultancy, The Odour Unit Pty Ltd, to conduct a baseline regional odour assessment to identify the types, strength and possible sources of the odours.
Preliminary findings were presented by The Odour Unit Pty Ltd at the community meeting on 20 September 2012. The final report by The Odour Unit Pty Ltd is now available for download:
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Western Sydney Regional Odour Assessment, sections 1 to 4 (CRWSydOdourPt1.pdf, 3MB)
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Western Sydney Regional Odour Assessment, sections 5.1-5.6 (CRWSydOdourPt2.pdf, 5.4MB)
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Western Sydney Regional Odour Assessment, sections 5.7-5.12 (CRWSydOdourPt3.pdf, 4.8MB)
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Western Sydney Regional Odour Assessment Appendixes (CRWSydOdourApp.pdf, 1.8MB).
Frequently asked questions
What does the report say?
The report identifies three facilities as the most likely to be causing odour during the surveys that the Odour Unit carried out during September 2012:
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SITA Advanced Waste Treatment facility in Elizabeth Drive Kemps Creek
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Global Renewables Resource Recovery Facility (also known as UR-3R)
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Waste Assets Management Corporation (WAMC) Landfill.
The Odour Unit also makes recommendations on mitigating the potentially odour-producing activities at each of the facilities.
What is the EPA doing in response?
The EPA has made variations to the SITA and UR-3R licences requiring them to implement pollution reduction programs to tackle potential odour sources at their facilities, including testing the buildings to ensure they are airtight against odour escaping, and controlling the size of their stockpiles. The EPA has also made a variation to the WAMC licence requiring them to implement a pollution reduction program to address landfill gas management works.
The EPA does regular, unannounced inspections of all the waste management facilities identified in the report (and others in the area). The EPA also does frequent odour surveys in the Eastern Creek, Erskine Park and Kemps Creek areas. The EPA has also written to eight facilities in the Eastern Creek and the surrounding area to remind them of their responsibilities to reduce odour.