Airborne mystery

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Airborne mystery

A KORUMBURRA man is calling for independent testing of substances that fall on cars and houses near Burra Foods’ factory.

The call by Mark Olsen follows the discovery of mysterious spots on his and other vehicles in Korumburra last Tuesday morning (August 11).

He believed the spots were milk powder from Burra Foods’ factory but a factory spokesperson said testing by Burra Foods staff found the airborne particles did not originate from the factory. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) also did not believe the spots were milk powder.

“Burra Foods has confirmed that further testing of additional airborne particles found on neighbouring residents’ properties were not of Burra Foods origins and the particles had an appearance more like pollen,” a Burra Foods spokesperson said.

“Testing failed to identify anything which had the appearance of milk powder, either skim, whole milk or otherwise. 

“A number of trees capable of releasing pollen were identified within the vicinity of the complainant’s address and the Burra Foods site, including species of wattle and cyprus.

“More sunlight and ambient temperatures have meant a number of different plants have recently flowered which could be sources for the pollen observed.”

But Mr Olsen was not convinced, saying he did not have wattle trees nearby.

“Whenever it rains we end up with this all over our cars. It’s not just that, it’s all around the window of the house. The slats on my front verandah have already got mould on them and it’s a just a month old. How can that happen?” he said.

“It has got to be something in the powder that is making the mould grow.”

Mr Olsen said the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) was trusting Burra Foods’ test results, as the EPA told him it would await Burra Foods’ results before acting.

Mr Olsen said he had to “physically scrub” the substance from his vehicles. If the substance was fire ash or pollen, he believed the wind would blow it away.

“It’s a pain. Now I have to wash my car everyday so I can see out the windows and drive it,” he said.

Mr Olsen was concerned about the impact of the airborne particles on his house and car.

“You can’t grow any vegetables because you don’t know what is in the tank water,” he said.

EPA Gippsland manager Emily Sanders said at this time of year, when wattle trees are in bloom, the EPA frequently receives community reports where pollen is mistaken for dust or powder.

“In this instance, when EPA received two reports of dust from community members in Korumburra, we questioned Burra Foods and community members at length to understand if this was likely to be milk powder,” she said.

“Burra Foods is required under its licence to maintain an appropriate monitoring regime to demonstrate the company’s compliance with its EPA licence. This is common amongst businesses that EPA regulates, and failure to do this would be a breach of licence and could result in a sanction being issued. Monitoring showed no milk powder emissions at the time.”

Ms Sanders said Burra Foods also used its Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy machine (ICP-AES) to test the dust collected at the community members’ houses.

“Results showed the material is not milk powder. The reporters have been notified and have been invited by Burra Foods to examine the dust under a microscope and compare it to milk powder in order to demonstrate the difference,” she said.

“Given the extensive testing and analysis conducted by Burra Foods, not maintaining appropriate monitoring for milk powder could constitute a sanction.

“From the description of the alleged dust, EPA concluded there was no evidence to suggest it emanated from Burra Foods and that it was likely to be pollen.”

EPA decided no independent testing was warranted in this situation.

“EPA has previously undertaken independent testing of dust reported by community members where there was evidence to suggest the dust was milk powder from Burra Foods,” she said.

“This led to EPA issuing a penalty infringement notice to Burra Foods in February this year for breach of licence due to milk powder emissions for example.”

Ms Sanders said the EPA was committed to working with the Korumburra community on environmental matters relating to the Burra Foods factory.

“EPA now attends ongoing regular meetings with community representatives and Burra Foods, giving community members the chance to directly raise issues of concern,” she said.

“EPA has also recently provided an opportunity for community members to speak directly with one of our odour experts who are working to respond to community concerns.”

EPA encourages the community to continue reporting pollution on 1800 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) or by visiting www.epa.vic.gov.au

Not happy: Mark Olsen cleans a mysterious substance from his car in Korumburra last week. He is concerned the substance was milk powder from Burra Foods’ factory but the company said its testing found no link with the factory. The Environment Protection Authority agreed with Burra Foods.

Not happy: Mark Olsen cleans a mysterious substance from his car in Korumburra last week. He is concerned the substance was milk powder from Burra Foods’ factory but the company said its testing found no link with the factory. The Environment Protection Authority agreed with Burra Foods.

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Posted by on Aug 18 2015. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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