RESIDENTS are alarmed that foul-smelling waste from a wool processing factory has been dumped in Melton after Moorabool Council gave the company 21 days to remove it.
Bill Mansell, a resident of Long Forest Road (where the waste was initially dumped) said the decision to relocate to Melton was bizarre.
“Despite the best efforts and hard work of the Moorabool Shire Council … in a bizarre twist the industrial waste is being trucked from the dump site on one side of the creek to another in a neighbouring council, still within the Werribee River catchment, ” he said.
Mr Mansell said residents feared the waste from the Victorian Wool Processors factory was contaminating aquifers and rivers in the area.
“The dumping site is at 594 Long Forest Road Nature Conservation Reserve … streams feed directly to the Djerriwarrh Creek which flows into the Melton Reservoir and the Werribee River catchment.
“The industrial waste is from a wool processing factory … conventionally contain[ing] high levels of pesticides and chemicals.
“Residents are being hit hard by the nauseating odour emanating from piles of the dumped waste … liken[ing] the stench to dead animals or blood and bone.”
An Environment Protection Authority spokesman said Moorabool Council had asked the company to relocate from the original site but the Melton Council had its own planning rules and regulations around the industry.
“Because the site has moved, there might be residual odour from the previous site. It doesn’t necessarily mean there has been a pollution incident,” the spokesman said.
Moorabool mayor Pat Griffin said the council had advised Melton Shire and the EPA about the waste.
He said it was still waiting for soil test results from the Long Forest site.
“You can’t put smelly stuff next to where people live,” he said.
“It’s still our problem even though they are going to Melton Shire. I am concerned that these guys can dump from one place to the next.
“I think the EPA need a kick in the a**e. EPA are the experts; all the testing done previously has been by the company, not by the EPA,” Cr Griffin said.
Melton council CEO Kelvin Tori said the council was aware a quantity of material was brought from a property in Moorabool Shire onto private land within the shire.
“Council officers are currently determining the nature of the material to identify whether permits are required,” Mr Tori said.
“Council’s preliminary investigations indicate the material is not adjacent to wetlands.”
Victorian Wool Processors general manager David Ritchie said the company had not received complaints with regard to odour from residents.
“Prior to anything being delivered to the site it was tested by an independent laboratory and the results given to EPA Victoria, who stated that a licence was not necessary as the soil was found to be under all EPA levels in regards to heavy materials or any other toxic substances.
“It is a natural fertiliser and all fertilisers give off odour,” Mr Ritchie said.
He said a number of farmers had expressed interest in using the product when they observed “the increased yields from using the product”.
Mr Ritchie said the company would continue to work with council.
Melton MP Don Nardella said he was greatly concerned that the company was planning to dump industrial waste on the Porteus and Harkess roads site – “especially after the company was recently effectively forced off another site in Long Forest Road, Bacchus Marsh, by Moorabool Council following a number of complaints that the amount of waste was emitting odours offensive to local
residents”.
“I will be raising the matter with both Melton Council and the EPA to ensure there are no breaches of either planning, health and or environmental regulations.”
Soil tests carried out by Moorabool Council confirmed there were no toxic chemicals in the waste.
