An odour expert has been called to investigate a mysterious smell that has been plaguing the Western Australian town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder for the past 18 months.
Residents have long since reported a strong smell in parts of the town but council efforts have failed to locate its source.
OPAM Consulting Director Philippe Najean has been appointed to sniff out where the smell is originating from.
“I’ve been here since Sunday and, before coming, I’ve tried to identify possible sources of odours from the various activities around coming from mining, waste management facilities, all the types of facilities where you can have some emissions of odours,” he told 9News.com.au.
“I got some smells of exhaustion, stale water with a bit of the ponds that are around, I got some smells of sewage, hydrocarbon.
“There’s various smells, there’s not one specific odour.
“What I try to assess is which one is more likely the one that is experienced by the residents that are complaining.”
Najean has been in the odour industry for almost 24 years and has his nose calibrated every six to 12 months at an olfactometry laboratory.
It’s what he said he’ll use to solve the town’s problem.
“My main equipment is my nose because that’s the best equipment you have to measure odours,” he said.
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson said he tasked Najean with the job as part of the ongoing effort to identify the source of the smell.
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“The City is committed to ensuring that no one should feel constrained within their home due to persistent odours, which is why we’ve engaged an independent specialist to conduct a comprehensive assessment and bring these findings to Council,” he said.
Wilson has previously shot down notions the smell is permeating from the city’s wastewater plant, saying the facility is meeting all regulatory standards and is being monitored
