Sludge Watch ==> New Zealand - Gas Attack - residents talk about sludge stench

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

There is a great photograph:


http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4249810a23918.html
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Residents have their say on stench
MATT CALMAN - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 25 October 2007


Photo:
GAS ATTACK:
Rick de Bes is fed up with the smell from Carey's Gully that drives him off 
his Brooklyn deck.


A stink that has been brewing around Wellington's southern landfill for 10 
years may not get up the noses of Brooklyn residents for much longer.


Wellington City Council has delayed its application to Greater Wellington 
regional council to extend the operation of a sewage dewatering plant in 
Carey's Gully for another 25 years so it can hear locals' concerns about the 
stench coming from the area.

Carey's Gully is home to Wellington City Council's southern landfill, a 
sewage sludge dewatering plant, and Living Earth's composting plant.

Despite the resource consent application applying only to the dewatering 
plant, the council accepted the smell was a wider issue.

Its infrastructure director, Stavros Michael, said it had asked to delay the 
consent process so it could consult residents. "We do accept that odour is a 
valid and genuine concern of the local community. We will not be able to 
completely eliminate the issue but we can try to minimise it."

Brooklyn local Rick de Bes said the stench from Carey's Gully had plagued 
the area for nearly 10 years.

Mr de Bes said the smell hung like fog for up to an hour in light 
southerlies and quickly "drives you indoors".

"If you've got a got a nice sunny evening and you want to go out on the deck 
and you're smelling bloody poo, it's just not good enough.

"I just want the problem gone. It's the council's duty to me as a 
ratepayer."

The source of the odour had been under investigation since the landfill 
expansion in 1997. Residents believe stored faecal matter at the composting 
plant is responsible.