00:02Adam Patterson has spent two years doing up his backyard in sunshine.
00:07This is our little oasis that we call home.
00:10But the barbecue has been stopped by a persistent bad smell.
00:15Just rotting flesh, rotting meat, you know, like dead rats.
00:20Yeah, it's pretty vomit inducing.
00:21It's a stench that's been keeping the state's environmental watchdog very busy.
00:26It's really important that we know what it smells like.
00:29Having identified the smell.
00:31Cooked animal, yeah, depending on the day, it can vary.
00:36The EPA inspected dozens of meat processing and tannery sites across the west,
00:42including CSF Proteins, which does the smelly work of turning animal waste into pet food.
00:48The community's been unreasonably impacted by a couple of different businesses within that area
00:53and what they're doing and how they're putting those controls has not been suitable.
00:57The EPA is considering fines.
01:00Well, standing outside CSF Proteins, as the wind moves around, it doesn't smell great.
01:06And it's something you might have noticed driving along the Western Ring Road, just near the Westgate Freeway.
01:12Among other businesses, they've been ordered to fix holes in the shed and improve air filtration.
01:18Is it going to get better?
01:20I think it will.
01:21It will.
01:21Oh, we'll make it.
01:22We'll make them make it better.
01:24I'm not giving up until they're finished fixing what I deem they need to do.
01:29But there are no plans to shut the rendering plant because it performs a vital service.
01:34All the feathers, skin, horns, heads, all that stuff that we can't eat,
01:39and that's thousands and thousands of tonnes per day, goes to these places.
01:44There aren't that many in Victoria.
01:45The company says it's working with the EPA.
01:48It has until the end of next month to stop the smells escaping.
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