By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A liquid organic waste company in Ordish Road, Dandenong South has been given until 31 March to control its offensive odours.
Argus Recycling had appealed against a pollution abatement notice (PAN) issued by the Environment Protection Authority in July 2020.
At the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in May, Argus agreed to implement controls under an odour management plan.
“The PAN was amended to reflect this and Argus Tallow must comply by 31 March 2022,” an EPA spokesperson said.
EPA officers attended the site in 2019 and 2020 in response to odour reports from the community, the spokesperson said.
“Odour is an issue that can cause great discomfort for many people and EPA takes it very seriously using its powers to require remediation by offending organisations.
“EPA will continue to monitor the site.”
Nearby manufacturers and a shopfitting business backed the EPA’s PAN at the VCAT hearing.
The PAN originally stated that Argus’s activities caused or were likely to cause air pollution that was harmful or potentially harmful to human health, welfare, safety or property, according to a VCAT report in December.
The amended PAN, along with the VCAT decision in May, has not been published.
Argus Recycling has been at the site next to Dandenong Creek since 1967.
Its open-air compost yard sits just inside the border of Dandenong’s increasingly notorious industrial 2 zone.
The industry two zone – home to the state’s most offensive industries such as the Lyndhurst toxic waste dump – was established in 1976.
It has been steadily encroached by light industry, housing estates, sports fields and schools in Keysborough and Dandenong South.
Some homes are within the zone’s supposed 1.5-kilometre buffer zone.
Residents as close as 3 kilometres have complained about odours, and opposed a recently-approved waste-to-energy plant in Ordish Road.
A lawyer for Argus Recycling said: “My client has no comment”.
