Composting facility under fire for ‘environmental nuisance’

The Brightsides composting site, located upstream from the Salmon Ponds hatchery near the Plenty River, has been accused of “repeated incidents of environmental nuisance” due to “pollutants emitted to the air”.The company at 47 Plenty Valley Road, owned by Jenkins Hire, deals with waste from a number of sources, including liquid fish waste, as well as paper sludge from Norske Skog, pine bark and green waste, and human sewage.According to the EPA notice from director Wes Ford, the environmental watchdog received more than 19 complaints about the odour from January to April 8 this year.He said authorised officers visited the site in January and February in response to complaints, discovering a “significant stockpile consisting of a mixture of liquid controlled wastes and biomass”.The EPA said the stockpiles weren’t windrowed correctly, with winds and natural airflow carrying the “offensive odours” beyond the land’s boundaries.“Waste from finfish farming production and processing activities have a very high potential to be odorous and have been the cause of numerous odour complaints,” it said.In a statement to the Mercury, the EPA said it was managing a range of compliance matters at the compost facility.“The EPA continues to monitor compliance issues associated with waste management at the composting facility and nearby agricultural land to ensure acceptable waste management practices occur in the Plenty River area,” the statement read.The composting facility also came under investigation in 2022 following an alleged wastewater spill on September 23, 2020 said to have led to the deaths of more than 130,000 fish.The EPA told the Mercury it was satisfied that “the circumstances that may have caused the September 2020 death of fish at the Salmon Ponds have been rectified”.“The investigation into the discharge from the property in 2020 has been completed and the matter has been handed to the Director of Public Prosecutions,” the EPA said.No charges have been laid.Twitter follow Amber Wilson

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April 24, 2022 at 11:30PM
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The Brightsides composting site, located upstream from the Salmon Ponds hatchery near the Plenty River, has been accused of “repeated incidents of environmental nuisance” due to “pollutants emitted to the air”.The company at 47 Plenty Valley Road, owned by Jenkins Hire, deals with waste from a number of sources, including liquid fish waste, as well as paper sludge from Norske Skog, pine bark and green waste, and human sewage.According to the EPA notice from director Wes Ford, the environmental watchdog received more than 19 complaints about the odour from January to April 8 this year.He said authorised officers visited the site in January and February in response to complaints, discovering a “significant stockpile consisting of a mixture of liquid controlled wastes and biomass”.The EPA said the stockpiles weren’t windrowed correctly, with winds and natural airflow carrying the “offensive odours” beyond the land’s boundaries.“Waste from finfish farming production and processing activities have a very high potential to be odorous and have been the cause of numerous odour complaints,” it said.In a statement to the Mercury, the EPA said it was managing a range of compliance matters at the compost facility.“The EPA continues to monitor compliance issues associated with waste management at the composting facility and nearby agricultural land to ensure acceptable waste management practices occur in the Plenty River area,” the statement read.The composting facility also came under investigation in 2022 following an alleged wastewater spill on September 23, 2020 said to have led to the deaths of more than 130,000 fish.The EPA told the Mercury it was satisfied that “the circumstances that may have caused the September 2020 death of fish at the Salmon Ponds have been rectified”.“The investigation into the discharge from the property in 2020 has been completed and the matter has been handed to the Director of Public Prosecutions,” the EPA said.No charges have been laid.Twitter follow Amber Wilson