SMRC’s Licence Should Not Be Renewed Next Month
Media Statement
Dr Mike Nahan MLA
Member of Riverton
Dr Mike Nahan, the Member for Riverton, said the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council’s licence to operate, which expires on 22 October 2011, should not automatically be renewed in light of the SMRC’s appalling record of emitting annoying odours on the local community.
“The results of the Community Odour Monitoring Program undertaken by DEC, which showed that 60 days out of 100 the SMRC emitted unpleasant odours, have removed any doubt. The SMRC simply cannot continue to operate in its present form,” said Dr Nahan.
“The SMRC’s financial viability should also be reviewed. Its second biggest member council, the City of Canning pulled out last year. The City of Rockingham is pulling out at the end of the fiscal year and the City of Melville, its biggest member council, is about to release a report into other waste options.”
“Given the SMRC’s history and the problems that it is facing, I don’t believe its licence should be renewed by DEC, leaving the local community to try to appeal it once it’s been granted.”
Dr Nahan said DEC representatives gave him a comprehensive briefing yesterday (Wednesday 14 September 2011) on the Community Odour Monitoring Program (COMP) that was undertaken between January and April this year to establish where the odours were coming from.
“At the briefing, DEC representatives advised that of the 300 or so valid odour logs, 193 of them related to the SMRC,” said Dr Nahan.
“DEC told me that the COMP survey results have been cross referenced and their veracity has been confirmed by DEC’s own trained odour staff that spent more than 120 hours in the field during the survey period, and by additional independent community complaints.”
“These results should be more than enough for DEC, as the regulator, to finally take action against the SMRC. After eight years of public outcry and millions of dollars in failed remedial work by the SMRC, local families deserve better.”
“I urge the member councils of the SMRC to accept the reality and get on with finding another viable alternative to its current technology.”
