Longford residents say foul odour remains despite the cost of upgrades nearing $40 million

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A rural community in northern Tasmania says almost $40 million worth of upgrades has failed to rid their town of a mystery stench. Residents of Longford, near Launceston, have put up with the terrible smell for years. But even though millions have been spent upgrading the local sewerage plant and abattoir. Authorities are yet to pinpoint the source.

Transcript

00:00The country town has a nickname that makes most locals wince.

00:07You don't want your town referred to as Pongford.

00:09Oh, Longford, oh, you know, it's Pongford.

00:12But for years, Longford's residents have been forced indoors

00:16and even put off their food by a stomach-turning odour.

00:20It sort of smells like poo. It's just so sickening.

00:24When it was really bad, you could sort of taste it.

00:27I know that sounds horrible.

00:29It tends to hit when the weather's really warm,

00:33and I suppose the different prevailing winds determine

00:38who smells it at what time of the day.

00:40Yet the culprit remains a mystery.

00:43There's been no specific evidence to determine

00:49where the smell is actually coming from.

00:51Tasmania's Environment Protection Authority says

00:54$38 million has been spent over the past few years

00:58trying to address Longford's odour issues.

01:01That included working with a local abattoir to upgrade biofilters,

01:05while Taswater has improved its sewage treatment plant.

01:09The sewage treatment plant upgrade three years ago included features to capture and treat odours.

01:16Despite this, complaints about odour have continued, with three complaints from the community this year.

01:23But Taswater said it investigated and is confident any reported odour issues are not its fault.

01:29The abattoir's owner, JBS, did not respond to multiple messages from the ABC.

01:36Last month, the Northern Midlands Council resolved to again raise the odour problem with the EPA.

01:42They certainly want things sorted out when they were supposed to have clean air, fresh air.

01:47I'd like them to determine firstly where the smell's coming from

01:52and then let's put a plan in place then to rectify the issue.

01:56Miss Jago would also welcome her home not being referred to as Pongford.

02:01Hopefully we can get rid of that little name one day.

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