Offensive smells in Timaru prompt 80 new complaints
More than 80 complaints about offensive smells in Timaru were lodged with the regional council in two weeks, prompting an investigation into three specific incidents.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) confirmed it was still investigating three “specific incidents” as a result of the influx of complaints.
ECan southern zone delivery lead, Gina Slee, said 82 reports had been made to the regional council’s Smelt-It, an app where people can lodge complaints about unpleasant odour.
Those were made between April 17 and May 2, and all related to the Timaru North and Washdyke areas.
“Most of these relate to three specific incidents that remain under investigation,” Slee said.
On April 23, 44 complaints were received.
“Understandably, there's a lot of information required to work through for these investigations, and we thank the community for their patience,” Slee said.
“In the meantime, our team continue to respond and investigate reports of odour, and we encourage people affected by offensive or objectionable odour in the Timaru north area to continue using the Smelt-it website to report it.
“We will continue working directly with consent holders to monitor compliance with air discharge consents.”
Slee said they were also still investigating 11 separate odour incidents in Timaru since December 2023.
“There will be more information released about each of these events at the conclusion of this investigation. Until this time, we are unable to make any further comment.”
In January, more than 60 reports of “offensive odours” were lodged in Timaru in one day.
In 2021, ECan received hundreds of complaints – including 235 in February – about unpleasant odours in Washdyke and northern Timaru.
ECan launched the Timaru Odour Pilot project which aimed to track down the source of unpleasant odours in the two areas.
ECan eventually identified Alliance Smithfield and South Canterbury By-Products (SCBP) as the two most likely sources.
The same year the businesses completed a root cause analysis, identified solutions, and implemented a plan to address those root causes.