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Neutrog Australia blame-shifting amid continuing complaints about odour, and refusing to pay EPA fine

Locals say on some days, the odour from a chook poo factory is “unbearable” – but the processor is refusing to pay a fine, blaming something else entirely.

Local families suffer from the stench of rotting manure in Adelaide Hills

Hills fertiliser company Neutrog is trying to shift the blame for a big stink at Kanmantoo to an expanding wastewater treatment plant nearby.

But the Environment Protection Authority considers that site “low risk” for odours and has fined Neutrog for failing to produce a satisfactory odour environment improvement plan.

Neutrog is refusing to pay the $1092 fine issued on June 23 and has threatened legal action, it said in a statement to the media.

The company also pulled out of a community meeting, just days before it was scheduled.

However the EPA has “received no correspondence indicating that Neutrog is intending to commence legal proceedings against the EPA”.

For more than 20 years, Kanmantoo residents have been complaining about the stench of decaying chicken manure piled up in huge mounds around the Neutrog facility.

Local Monica Spriggs says the smell emanates from Neutrog at least once or twice a month, sometimes “so thick you can taste it” and other times it can be “almost every day”.

“Sometimes it’s really strong (and) you can’t open up your windows in summertime,” she said.

The Kanmantoo resident said the smell could be “really bad” and had given her headaches.

It also stopped the family from inviting people to their home.

“We’ve had people come over and they’re like, ‘you’ve really laid it down thick today’ and we’re like, actually it’s just the wind,” she said.

Her daughter Rivah, 5, said: “It’s not fun to play outside when it smells worse than Dad’s feet”.

Monica Spriggs with her daughters, Storm, 3, Nova, 1, and Rivah, 5, outside Neutrog in Kanmantoo, where rotting chicken manure can be smelt. Picture: Matt Loxton
Monica Spriggs with her daughters, Storm, 3, Nova, 1, and Rivah, 5, outside Neutrog in Kanmantoo, where rotting chicken manure can be smelt. Picture: Matt Loxton

Neutrog Australia managing director Angus Irwin has pointed the finger at a wastewater treatment plant nearby, which is growing to the point of needing an EPA licence.

“The refusal of the council, community, and EPA to acknowledge the other local odour source in the form of a raw sewage treatment facility, has led to our decision to indefinitely suspend the current process and move the matter to the Development Court,” he said.

The EPA said Neutrog was required to “engage a suitably qualified odour specialist” to ascertain if any other sources were contributing to odour in the area.

“Neutrog has implied, that the odour residents are reporting, is from a wastewater treatment plant at Petwood operated by MACA Developments, 2.5km south of Kanmantoo,” a spokeswoman said.

“This would be considered a low risk for generating odours as impactful or with the same odour profile as those described by the community at Kanmantoo and Callington.

“Previous odour specialists engaged by Neutrog had not identified sources of odour other than sources originating from the Neutrog site.”

When EPA officers attended the wastewater treatment plant on the June 1 and July 6, “no noticeable odour was observed leaving the site”.

Mark Catalano of Alano Utilities, which operates the wastewater treatment plant, said “on our understanding of the issue, it is unrelated to our operations”.

Community spokesman Peter Roberts of St Ives said the idea that the smell was coming from anywhere other than Neutrog was “rubbish” and he felt for the kids who can’t play outside.

“Literally the stench is unbearable and in the summer months, more days than not in every month, you can’t go outside your house because of the stench,” he said.

“So if people want to have a barbecue and invite friends around you can’t do it, it’s just absolutely intolerable.”

Read related topics:Environment & Climate

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/neutrog-australia-blameshifting-amid-continuing-complaints-about-odour-and-refusing-to-pay-epa-fine/news-story/028b66b4b4285a60ff322dd4386f546d