Soil and bay sediments have been excavated during the remediation, tested for contaminants and classified for reinstatement or treatment. The excavation and backfilling exposes chemical residues in the soil and sediment that have the potential to emit odours to the atmosphere. The odours may smell like petrol, oil, tar or mothballs but they won’t last for long periods of time.
The human nose is very sensitive so it is likely that people in the community will occasionally smell odours from the excavation and backfilling. To ensure the odours are not a public health risk, they are monitored in a number of different ways. In addition, the dispersion and dissipation of odours before they reach site boundaries generally reduces their offsite impact.
Odour Monitoring Using A ’Nasal Ranger’
Odour monitoring is conducted around the entire perimeter of the project sites and at potentially affected areas beyond the site boundaries by specialist environmental consultants, Parsons Brinckerhoff Pty Ltd. All odour monitoring personnel are qualified for the assessment of odours by dynamic olfactometry in accordance with Australian standard AS/NZS 4323.3.2001. A piece of equipment called a Nasal Ranger is used to conduct the odour monitoring. The Nasal Ranger is attached to the observer’s nose and air is drawn through it at a constant rate. The air passes through carbon filters which remove all odours from the ambient air and "zero" the observer’s sense of smell. The observer then adjusts the Nasal Ranger to progressively allow larger concentrations of ambient air to pass through the device. The observer records the ambient air dilution rate at which an odour is detected. This dilution rate indicates the intensity of the odour. It is used in combination with the trained observer’s notes on the characteristics of the odour, and the prevailing meteorological conditions, to monitor odour in the atmosphere.
Odour Monitoring Results From The Continuous Measurement Of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Levels At Site Boundaries
Click here for explanatory notes about the results below.
| Eastern Boundary | Southern Boundary | Southern Boundary | Northern Boundary |
| (Walker St) | (middle of Gauthorpe St) | (end of Gauthorpe St) | (beside Villlage Quay Apts) | |
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| Jul 2010 | Data | Data | Data | Data |