Port Augusta residents to endure summer of putrid odour wafting over the town as a result of Alinta Energy’s power station closure

A PUTRID odour, similar to rotten fish, is expected to waft over Port Augusta this summer, much to the disgust of residents and the local council.

PORT Augusta residents will again be subjected to a summer of putrid odours wafting from a nearby lake, because a $3.2 million solution remains unfunded.

A report into Bird Lake found its pungent smell could be controlled by covering its edges in soil and revegetating, and the State Government earlier this year pledged to help resolve the issue.

But more than five months after the report, the lake is untouched and the State Government says “talks” are continuing with the local council.

The town’s residents are now bracing for the odour — similar to rotten fish — to pervade the town.

Resident Irene Maher said the odour was so bad at times it would stick to clothes and could be tasted as well as smelled.

Another resident likened it to living next door to a “garbage dump”.

Debbie Cox, 57, says the Bird Lake odour is similar to rotten fish

The lake, south of Port Augusta, previously had its smell controlled by being filled with water from Alinta Energy’s power station, which was closed in May 2016.

Mayor Sam Johnson said that since the closure, residents had been subjected to the foul smell, which had affected tourism and businesses last summer.

“We found accommodation, not just in Port Augusta but across the region, was down just after Christmas and in January due to the odour and our fly-ash issue,” Mr Johnson said.

“Now there’s been an additional 12 months of the lake drying out and algae increasing, there’s a possibility the odour could be even stronger.

“Imagine a really big area filled with rotten eggs and dead fish, that’s what the smell is like.”

Port Augusta residents last summer also suffered from respiratory difficulties from a thick ash cloud over the town, as a result of the defunct Northern Power Station.

Since the power station closure, Alinta Energy has had to aerially apply dust suppressants to control and seal the ash dam, even as recently as last week.

Port Augusta Mayor Sam Johnson. Picture: Calum Robertson

Mr Johnson said Bird Lake must be fixed urgently and there was no excuse for the Government’s inaction, given that a solution was identified in May and contractors were willing to undertake the work.

“Now we’ve got an independent report saying there’s a solution and cost and we need the State Government to fund it, which they promised,” he said.

The State Government, in Parliament earlier this year, conceded that given the magnitude of the problem, the council would be unlikely to be able to afford the solution.

Manufacturing and Innovation Minister Kyam Maher previously said the State Government and Federal Government had a role to fix the issue, despite the majority of the lake being on council land.

When asked by The Advertiser when, or if, funding would be committed, Mr Maher stated: “The State Government has been working closely with Port Augusta City Council over remediation works at Bird Lake and those talks continue.”