One week it smells of rotting food, the next of silage and pig slop. Several properties around Tuakau - 30 minutes' drive from downtown Auckland - have been tainted by unpleasant odours and residents fear an increase in the culprit's activities will make things worse.
Lou Dromgool has always worked
the 130-year-old family farm and the Envirofert "resource recovery" business is his close neighbour. He was one of several locals to contact The Aucklander following an article about Auckland Council's Waste Management and Minimisation Plan. It reveals proposals to hugely increase organic waste processed at the waste food composting plant.
Locals say the site stinks and they are concerned Envirofert is not equipped to handle more material without ruining the air quality.
Mr Dromgool says he keeps a close eye on Envirofert and believes the company is acting outside its consents. "The smells are offensive. Sometimes you even get them on a still day."
His neighbour, Judy Halsey, has lived in the area for 20 years. She says she had no idea what to expect when Envirofert moved within 1km of her property in 2009. "It used to be green waste, then they started taking food waste and the problems started. The smell is like having your head in a garbage bin."
She started RATS - Residents Against Tuakau Smells - to get people talking about the problem and says she's worried. "The more stuff they take, the bigger the problem is going to become. It's when they are shifting the compost that it's horrendous. I just want them to stop the smell. I tried to ask Envirofert to fix the problem and they say I'm only assuming it's them causing it."
Another resident, Paul Smith, says Envirofert is "turning into a bit of a monster. They seem to have a resource consent based on very little and now they are doing quite a bit."
Mr Smith says wind direction means it's easy to tell whether odours are coming from a nearby rendering plant or Envirofert.
"Our impression is that those who are running Envirofert have no concern for the locals. No one was aware they were going to be bringing food waste from Putaruru," he says, referring to a trial collection from the South Waikato town that started in March. "We live in a rural area and we expect rural smells, but this is not a rural smell."
Tuakau used to be in the Franklin District-Auckland Regional Council area, but came under Waikato Regional Council following Auckland's local government changes.
However, a lot of Auckland's food waste is taken there. David Stagg, of the Waikato council, says there has been a spike in complaints in the past four months. Ideally, someone will visit the complainant's property to assess the odour following each call, he says.
"At 10-second intervals for 10 minutes they rate the intensity level. If there's odour identified from [Envirofert] we contact them so they have a chance to do something about it."
Assessments are contracted to a local company and the council is employing a second person to help with monitoring.
Envirofert has acted to clear the odour and in the past week complaints have dropped, Mr Stagg says. "We've given them a chance to improve and, if not, we will have to take enforcement action."
Envirofert CEO Robert Lind told The Aucklander that blame for the odour lies with an on-site pond that went stagnant. "But we got stuck in and dealt with it. [Waikato Regional Council] is aware of it, they went round the site with us and are comfortable with the actions we've taken."
The pond has been cleaned out and he says the smells shouldn't return.
"We really apologise for that odour. We're not happy it occurred and we've dealt with it very seriously. We're very mindful of the effects on the neighbours and we want to be good citizens."
Mr Lind says Envirofert will hold an open day in the next six months to show people what goes on at the plant. He says he is confident the company can expand its composting business to take waste from Auckland without causing a stink.
Auckland Council environmental services manager, John Dragicevich, says no decision has been made on where to send waste from the proposed organic collection. Any site would be subject to rigorous appraisal and resource consents.
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