Kawerau is, once again, suffering from unpleasant odours — this time described as a chemical smell like burning rubber or plastic.
People have reported having trouble breathing from the smell, which has haunted the town since Sunday and was continuing to disturb the community on Tuesday.
Fingers have been pointed at people burning rubbish and the town’s industrial sector, but Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which has responded to the reports, said yesterday afternoon that it was still investigating.
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 underway.”
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 of Kawerau has been plagued by odours.
Early last year the town was demanding action due to 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.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
