Goulburn meat factory fined for strong odours

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Southern Meats Pty Ltd $30,000 following community complaints about strong, unpleasant odours drifting across parts of Goulburn in April 2025.

The odours — described by residents as decaying waste — are believed to have been caused by a failure in part of the abattoir's wastewater treatment system, which led to untreated water discharging into an onsite dam.

The EPA Director Regulatory Operations, Steve Orr, said no community should be exposed to such intense and offensive odours, and the abattoir has been held to account.

“Residents should be able to open their windows or step outside without being hit with the stench of decaying waste,” Orr said.

“After receiving around nine complaints from the community, our officers conducted odour surveys across the affected areas and were able to clearly trace the foul smells back to the abattoir on Mazamet Road.

“We then issued Southern Meats with a Clean-Up Notice, requiring them to urgently bring in experts to identify the source and recommend actions to address it. Through these efforts, the company progressively reduced the odours impacting residents.

“The operators of this facility have a clear responsibility under their licence conditions to treat and manage waste in a way that prevents odours and protects the community.”

In addition to the $30,000 penalty, the EPA has issued Southern Meats with a Prevention Notice requiring improved measures to prevent similar issues in the future.

Under the Prevention Notice, Southern Meats has committed to upgrading its monitoring systems and strengthening management plans, including enhanced staff training, to better protect the local community and environment from future odour incidents.

Odour complaints can be reported to the EPA’s Environment Line.

Image caption: The wastewater pond that received the impacted odorous effluent. The white solid substance is volatile fatty acid, which is an indicator of undigested wastewater. Image: Supplied.