Odour complaint received by AEPA at 21:16 on July 29, 2025. Claystone was notified of this complaint on the morning of July 30, 2025.
Complaint: Caller reporting an ongoing issue with the source – a very strong odor and there is no wind. The smell is just nasty and first noticed at 9:00 and ongoing. Trying to cool down the house with the windows open but its impossible wit [sic] the odor. Odor is chemical based and the same that is always coming form the site.
Claystone findings:
- Compost activities on July 29 were routine, with turning and material movement activities restricted due to wind direction. Claystone restricts disturbance of material as much as possible when winds are Southerly or Easterly because of potential off-site impact due to odour.
- On July 29, the compost turner used on site was down for maintenance and no turning taking place due to winds.
- Only received 99.2 tonnes of the expected intake of +/- 300 Tonnes of organics due to serious electrical failure at the processing/loading site of a major supplier and shipments were halted mid-day.
- Crews on the Claystone site were finished mixing and positioning the day’s feedstock intake on an aerated static pile (ASP) much faster than is typical. No unmixed material remained in the receiving area at end of day.
- Morning odour assessment noted moderate MSW at northeast corner of landfill with no odours reported during afternoon odour assessment.
- Landfill received 4,202 tonnes of potentially odours materials on July 28 and 29, which included hydrovac solids, MSW, and animal carcasses.
- All potentially odorous waste types listed were covered either immediately after deposit (if required by regulation) or by end of day (in accordance with regulatory standards).
Given the ‘chemical’ nature of the described odour, and given the lack of major identifiable sources of odour during on-site odour assessments, Claystone is unable to definitively identify or eliminate the source of the ‘chemical based’ odour reported on July 29, 2025. View the full report
