Compliance team leader Trudy Richards said, since Sunday, the council had received 26 calls to its 24/7 Pollution Hotline regarding strong, unpleasant odours.
“The first call was received around 10pm but the caller indicated it had been happening across the day,” Richards said. A staff member followed these calls up first thing Monday morning, cross-referencing information provided by the public with meteorological data.
The staff member returned to Kawerau in the afternoon and again yesterday morning.
“At this stage we have identified a residential property as one of the sources, and a potential industrial source, but the investigation is still under way.”
The burning of household waste may be one source of the smell.
“It’s important that people follow the rules around open burning, which are in place to protect community health,” Richards said.
“Plastics, for example, can be recycled for free through weekly kerbside collection or in bulk at the Kawerau Transfer Station.”
Residents who are concerned about the odour were encouraged to call the hotline.
“We want to thank the community for their reports so far – these are vital in helping us respond quickly and investigate odour events.”
This is not the first time the town has been plagued by odours.
Early last year the town was demanding action because of a more biological stench of human waste coming from the Ecocast worm farm that processes biosolids from most of the Bay of Plenty region’s sewerage systems.
Conditions were placed on the worm farm during a consent process for the farm’s expansion earlier this year.
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