A foul odour in Melbourne’s south-east is making residents physically ill

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Residents in two Cranbourne estates are living with a foul odour that’s making them feel physically ill and the EPA is encouraging them to see their doctor if they’re concerned.

The stench, which is coming from a nearby tip, has been plaguing the Botanic Ridge and Brookland Greens areas for years, but in recent weeks it’s intensified significantly.

New mother Aliks says she’s being woken up by the smell, has a horrible taste in her mouth, and is experiencing headaches and nausea.

She’s been forced to pack up her belongings and take her five-week-old daughter to her parents’ house two hours away “just so she can have fresh air”.

“It’s quite frightening, these symptoms,” she told Jacqui Felgate, filling in for Dee Dee.

“If you shut all your doors and windows the smell is just creeping inside.”

Sarah, another resident, is seven weeks pregnant and she’s worried about the impact the gas is having on her unborn baby.

“They’re saying what we’re smelling isn’t bad in the short term, but it’s sort of starting to turn into a long-term issue — it’s happening every day,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear residents sharing their deeply concerning experiences

The EPA says it’s received reports of an odour affecting residents in the Botanic Ridge and Brookland Greens areas over the past three or four months and complaints have increased sharply in recent days.

An EPA spokesperson says the stench is caused by hydrogen sulfide and the likely source of the smell is inadequately covered construction and demolition waste at SBI Group’s Cranbourne landfill on Ballarto Road, which is allowing rainwater to flow through the waste and into treatment ponds.

The problem has been exacerbated by cold, still weather which has prevented the smelly gas from dispersing.

The EPA’s acting regional manager for the Southern Metro area, Steve Lansdell, says they’re doing “absolutely everything we can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible”.

“It can cause some short-term impacts but we do know as soon as that dissipates it can really help people get on with their lives,” he told Jacqui Felgate.

“If people are having serious concerns and ongoing impacts we’d encourage them to see their doctor.”

SBI Group says it’s “been working closely with the EPA to resolve this issue, but unfortunately attempts to treat the water onsite have been unsuccessful, and as a result we have been trucking this stagnant water offsite since Friday afternoon”.

The EPA will be in the area measuring the odour again on Friday and there’ll be an online community update on Thursday, 14 July.

Press PLAY below to hear what the EPA is doing about the smell