Timaru Odour Pilot – keep reporting odours
Odour issues tend to worsen in the late summer heat. We are encouraging residents in the north Timaru and Washdyke areas to use the Smelt-it app to report when they detect offensive or objectionable odours.
Latest update - 3 February 2022
If you notice an unpleasant odour over the warmer months in the Washdyke and north Timaru area you can take action – and contribute to an important project - by reporting it to us via the Smelt-it app.
The Smelt-it app (smelt-it.web.app) can be used on a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer and allows you to easily report information to help our local team find the source of an offensive odour.
Working together to reduce odour
Smelt-it was introduced in Timaru last summer as part of a project to identify problem odours and partner with businesses to reduce emissions. This resulted in two main emitters in the Washdyke/north Timaru area (South Canterbury By-Products Alliance Group Smithfield and South) undertaking agreed actions and changes to their processes.
Project lead, Michael Nolan, says reporting smells this summer will provide important information to see if odour issues have improved in the Washdyke and north Timaru area.
“Over the past year, the project partner businesses that were identified as causing offensive odour have undertaken considerable work to reduce the level of odour being emitted from their sites.
“The next few months are critical to determine if the actions they have taken has reduced the odour to an acceptable level or if further action is required. The data we get from Smelt-it reports plays a critical role in how we move forward.”
App helps to respond to complains
Using Smelt-It allows the local officers to view complaints quickly and visually, via a map, and also have an extra level of detail compared to a regular odour complaint, including more information about the impact the smell is having on people.
Nolan adds: “Our team use Smelt-it reports to quickly respond to complaints and follow up with likely sources in line with our compliance framework.
“The priority is finding the source of the odour so if you don’t get a call back about your Smelt-it, that doesn’t mean it has gone unnoticed. The team often get many reports of the same odour at once.”
Officers respond to substantiated odour complaints using our compliance framework, using a range of education and enforcement tools.
The Timaru team is asking that only people that live in the Washdyke/Northern Timaru area use the app and odour complaints relating to other areas in the region should be made via the incident response hotline on 0800 765 588.
We will be providing updates on this page throughout the pilot.
Previous updates
We continue to work with both of our pilot partners, Alliance Smithfield (northern Timaru) and South Canterbury By-Products (Washdyke) to ensure the community has clean and healthy air to breathe.
Both businesses have signed Adaptive Management Plans that include significant capital expenditure and reviews of their internal systems and procedures, using independent consultants.
The actions set out in these Plans demonstrate their commitment to the community to minimise any negative impacts their business activities may have.
On track to improve air quality this summer
Although some of the actions being carried out involve processes that may have temporarily increased odour issues in the area, significant work is underway to improve long-term odour management.
All partners involved expect to see significant improvements in air quality at the conclusion of the project, on track to be completed by the end of November 2021.
Residents encouraged to keep reporting odours
We value the efforts of the community, please continue to use the Smelt-It app to report odour issues. These reports will be dealt with through our normal compliance framework.
Continued reporting is an important part of ensuring that measures being taken to improve the odour situation are effective as quickly as possible.
Questions and answers
Environment Canterbury will continue to work with other odour-emitting businesses in Washdyke/northern TImaru to ensure they are managing odour appropriately, and that they make any changes necessary to improve.
Please note that this pilot focused on northern Timaru and Washdyke, not other areas of Timaru that may also have odour-emitting sources. In other areas, please report any odours using our incident response hotline.
Canterbury District Health Board's Medical Officer of Health Dr Ramon Pink said that the risk of long-term health effects associated with the odour is considered to be low.
However, repeated or prolonged exposure to odour can be stressful, and the person experiencing this may become particularly sensitive to the presence of the odour.
Acute health effects may vary between individuals since perceptions of, and sensitivity to, odour can vary widely. If the symptoms persist or you are experiencing effects, such as eye, nose or throat irritation and/or have a pre-existing medical condition then you should speak to your GP.
Note: Canterbury Community and Public Health provides public health services to the South Canterbury population in alignment with the South Canterbury District Health Board.
Environment Canterbury has recently signed Adaptive Management Plans with both Alliance Smithfield (northern Timaru) and South Canterbury By-Products (Washdyke). These Plans set out an agreed pathway to minimising odour discharges from their sites.
The Plans include actions the companies will take, based on thorough internal investigations they have completed in response to the findings of the Timaru Odour Pilot project.
Adaptive Management Plans to reduce odour
Southern zone delivery lead Brian Reeves said these actions include improved processes and some significant investment in plant and machinery. These businesses have spent considerable effort reviewing their processes and will undertake sizeable capital expenditure in some areas.
“We want to acknowledge that these businesses play a really important role in South Canterbury’s primary industries. The actions set out in these Plans demonstrate their commitment to the community to minimise any negative impacts their business activities may have.”
Next steps
The sign-off of these Adaptive Management Plans is one of the final phases of this Timaru Odour Pilot project. Environment Canterbury will continue to work with Alliance Smithfield and South Canterbury By-Products as they complete their actions as set out in the Plans.
All actions are expected to be completed by the end of November 2021. All parties involved expect to see a significant reduction in odour from that point on.
Reeves said, “Our officers will continue to monitor odour in Washdyke and northern Timaru as part of our usual business beyond the conclusion of the project. We are aware there are multiple sites that discharge odour to varying degrees in Washdyke, and we will continue our work in that area to improve air quality for residents and businesses alike.”
“We would like to thank our pilot partners for their cooperation and collaboration during this process.”
Residents encouraged to keep reporting odours
Please continue to report any odour through the Smelt-It app. These reports will be dealt with through our normal compliance framework.
Continued reporting is an important part of ensuring that measures being taken to improve the odour situation are effective as quickly as possible.
Two Timaru businesses have investigated the likely reasons why they were found to be emitting offensive odours in February 2021.
Alliance Smithfield (northern Timaru) and South Canterbury By-Products (Washdyke) were requested by Environment Canterbury to establish the likely causes for offensive and objectionable odour beyond their property boundaries during a Timaru Odour Pilot project in February 2021.
Both businesses, who voluntarily took part in the pilot project, have now reported back to Environment Canterbury on their initial findings, which included information on operational equipment and processes, as well as identifying potential areas for resolving issues.
Management plans to reduce odour
Southern zone manager Chris Eccleston says the next step will be to work directly with the businesses on a management plan to reduce odour impacting the Timaru community.
“The aim for these businesses is to become compliant with their resource consents and our regional plans. We’ll report back to the community on progress and the adaptive management plans that will be put in place for both by the end of May.”
See how residents in Washdyke and northern Timaru helped find the source of unpleasant odours in the area using a new reporting app.
Residents encouraged to keep reporting odours
While this process is underway, any new complaints or Smelt-it app reports will be dealt with through the normal compliance framework. Residents of Washdyke and northern Timaru are strongly encouraged to continue to report odours using the Smelt-it app. Continued reporting will be an important part of ensuring that measures being taken to improve the odour situation are effective as quickly as possible.
Other Washdyke and northern Timaru sites that were identified as causing nuisance odour beyond their boundaries during the pilot are also being investigated.
“These businesses have also identified areas for improvement. We will be monitoring to see if these result in a reduction in odour reports,” Eccleston said.
Our recent odour pilot in Washdyke and northern Timaru has established the two main businesses that are emitting odour beyond their property boundaries.
The pilot ran for the month of February, with residents reporting odours via the Smelt-it mobile device app. This data was then combined with weather data and wind information, on-the-ground reports from incident response officers, and an independent odour assessor’s report.
During the pilot, 235 individual Smelt-it reports were logged, from 111 unique users. The most commonly used category to describe the odour was “meaty, rancid, dead animal, decayed” (70% of the reports). 92% of all reports rated the odour as objectionable.
Odour sources
Of our pilot partners, the two businesses found to be causing offensive and objectionable odour beyond their property boundaries were Alliance Smithfield (north Timaru) and South Canterbury By-Products (Washdyke). Other sites that met the threshold will be dealt with through the normal compliance framework.Some other businesses in the area were found to be causing odour that did not meet the “offensive or objectionable” threshold.
Environment Canterbury Project Lead Ruth Sarson says: “We will be working closely with these companies to help them to become compliant with their resource consents and our regional rules. Both companies appreciate that there is significant community concern around this issue and are willing to work with us to address the problem.”
Action taken
Environment Canterbury officer assessments substantiated many of the community’s Smelt-it reports, including 31 in Washdyke and 11 in northern Timaru. As a result, during the pilot period, eight notices of non-compliance were issued (seven to Alliance Smithfield and one to South Canterbury By-Products).
“We are incredibly grateful to the public for taking the time to be part of this process, which has allowed us to understand and document this problem in a way not previously possible. We all hope that this will be the beginning of a greatly improved situation for residents and businesses alike,” Sarson said.
A public meeting was held to discuss the findings of this odour pilot, which ran from 1-28 February and used the Smelt-it app to learn more about odour issues affecting residents of Washdyke and northern Timaru.
Find out more about the outcomes of the pilot.
Please continue to report any odour you may smell through our incident response hotline on 0800 765 588.
- Smelt-it reports,
- businesses on their operations,
- weather data and wind patterns, and
- the independent odour assessor.
We want to thank members of the Washdyke/Timaru communities and the local businesses that have taken part in the pilot.
We look forward to reporting back on our findings at the end of March.
This map shows some of the clusters of Smelt-it reports over the first week of the pilot. Full results will be shared with the public at the end of the pilot.
Timaru residents are helping find the source of unpleasant odours by using the Environment Canterbury smelt-it.web.app this February.
A pilot project, targeting Washdyke and the northern Timaru area, aims to gather better odour information and data using the free website app.
For the past week, Timaruvians have been able to use Smelt-it to easily and anonymously record noticeable odours, which are then investigated by a team in the target zone using mapping technology and odour assessment methods. In addition, businesses in the area are proactively taking part in the pilot, working closely with Environment Canterbury to help identify potential odours as they are reported.
Feedback on Smelt-it and other analysis will be analysed and shared with the public and local businesses once the pilot ends. However, our team working on the ground in the Washdyke and northern Timaru area is already developing a better understanding of the range and nature of odours in the area.
Southern zone delivery lead Brian Reeves said having more ‘real-time’ reports coming through from the public is helping build the big picture of which businesses are emitting different odours at different times.
"Overall, the aim is to reduce odour reaching beyond business boundaries to reduce the impact these odours have on our community. With Smelt-it, we’re able to collect more data and respond in a timely manner, where possible. The more people that use Smelt-it when they smell an odour in northern Timaru, the more successfully we’ll be able to accurately pinpoint and assess a source."
The team have also had good feedback about how Smelt-it focuses on the impact on a person’s daily life rather than a numbered scale.
“We’re looking for meaningful information – like is the smell bad enough to stop you from enjoying being in your backyard? It’s a much more practical approach to monitoring odour impact,” said Reeves.
Two public drop-in sessions have also been held, where residents asked questions about the pilot and gave feedback on Smelt-it and their experiences with odour issues in Timaru.
“We had a good turn-out and the level of engagement was high. We’re confident those that came along will be telling all their friends and family to use Smelt-it if they experience a bad odour in the area.”
See how residents in Washdyke and northern Timaru helped find the source of unpleasant odours in the area using a new reporting app.
Pilot background
From 1 to 28 February, residents were asked to log any noticeable odour in the area using the Smelt-it app (or by phoning 0800 765 588). At the same time, we were:
- working with businesses in the area to get more information on their operations and timing of certain activities
- gathering weather data and monitoring wind patterns, and
- employing an independent odour assessor to spend time in the area to provide an impartial, outside perspective.
Southern Zone Delivery Lead Brian Reeves said that odour is a serious concern for many residents in the Washdyke and northern Timaru area.
"This pilot – and particularly the different data streams – will enable us to bring together odour reports, the physical impact on residents and the likely location at the same time. We hope this will give us a compelling picture of the situation, in a way we’ve not been able to before."
Reeves emphasises the importance of the collaborative element of the project.
“We are excited to work with both the community and local businesses on this pilot, all of whom have a collective desire to improve the situation for everyone involved, and particularly affected residents. The businesses we have spoken to are on board and cooperating fully.”
Got questions?
Learn more about the pilot and using Smelt-it with our frequently asked questions below.
We need to know where you were when you notice the odour and at what time.
We will then use wind direction and dispersion models to narrow down potential sources using a scientific approach.
Please see the FAQs on the Smelt-it tool for information.
Alternatively, you can call 0800 324 636 and talk to one of the team for help.
You can also use Smelt-it on a tablet or desktop computer.
If you need assistance, call us on 0800 324 636 and we can help.
You can also continue to report odours via our incident response line on 0800 765 588.