Odour and frustrations return

Ngongotaha resident Andrew Smith says the odour near his home is affecting his quality of life. Photo / Stephen Parker

Frustration is rising among some Ngongotaha residents, as an ongoing air pollution issue continues.

However the regional council says the situation is being monitored and a process is being worked through to address the problem.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council held a public meeting last September to hear residents' concerns about odour and dust from the industrial area in and around Wikaraka St, including a sawmill operated by Mamaku Sawmilling Company.

An independent engineer's report was commissioned by the regional council to look at the mill's boiler operation and was due for completion in October, pollution prevention team leader Steve Pickles said.

However, the investigation has taken longer than anticipated.

"It's quite a complex process, every change you make to the boilers can have a flow-on effect that isn't easy to determine. If you make a change you need to see how it operates and then go back and tweak it. We did that before Christmas."

Mr Pickles said he expected the report to be completed next month.

Resident Andrew Smith said the odour and dust decreased noticeably while the mill was closed over the Christmas break.

"Ngongotaha residents have had a reprieve during this Christmas period. Now that the system has just started up again the last two days we are now being affected again by bad odours.

"Quality of life is what it comes down to ...

"The main issue for myself and for people in this area is bad odours. It just makes people think that Ngongotaha is a dirty place," he said.

Mr Pickles said there were a few options to control odour emitted. "There may always be a certain amount of noticeable discharge on a site like that but there is technology that can control discharges, ranging from relatively simple steps right through to very expensive mechanical controls which can be put in place, that's really what we are getting CRL (independent engineers) and the other experts to look at to identify.

"We are doing testing and doing changes and seeing if there were improvements. There is a process to work through, you have got to do it systematically; every change you do can perfect the boiler's performance to find the balance between still maintaining enough energy output and improving performance from an environmental perspective," he said.

Mamaku Sawmilling representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday.