Odour complaints investigated

6/1/04
Environment Minister Judy Edwards has asked the State's new Environmental Enforcement Unit to examine complaints of offensive odours in the Boulder region.
This follows community concerns about the odours, which have troubled the outskirts of Boulder.
"Two members of the Environmental Enforcement Unit and one from the Pollution Response Unit will travel to Kalgoorlie today and will meet up with a local Department of Environment investigator there," Dr Edwards said.
"They will investigate the odour complaints, with a view to prosecuting the offending company if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution."
Investigations to date have not determined the source of the odours, although local politicians and councillors have blamed the Total Waste Management liquid waste treatment plant.
The Minister said she was concerned at the alarmist comments being made by some people, including Kalgoorlie Mayor Ron Yuryevich.
"There is nothing occurring at the plant that the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council and the local community reference group do not already know about," she said.
"It should be noted that the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council, which is now complaining about this plant, called for tenders for a liquid waste treatment plant in 1996. They chose the operator, they leased the land for the site and they approved a clause in the agreement that allowed the plant to accept waste from outside the region.
"On a yearly basis, the council has received a copy of the licence when it is renewed and has never appealed against the licence conditions.
"For the mayor to say the council now objects to the site and has not been informed about the plant is ridiculous.
"He was a member of the council that oversaw this process."
The plant's licence conditions were recently altered to reduce the licensed capacity from 85,800 tonnes a year to 25,000 tones a year, a reduction of 71 per cent. This was done to bring the licence in line with the current plant capacity, which has been about 21,000 tonnes a year since it opened.
Dr Edwards also denied the local community had not had the opportunity to be informed.
"The Department of Environment held an Open Day in Boulder early last year, in which all Kalgoorlie-Boulder residents were invited to be informed about the plant and urged to apply for membership of the community reference group," she said.
"As a result of that drive, a large number of applications were received and the community reference group was set up in August of last year.
"The group has been well briefed about the plant's operations and licence conditions and I have met with the chair of the group on several occasions since then."

Minister's office: 9220 5050