Dunnstown spring water bottling facility Cottonwood Springs has been fined for reeking "organic sludge", which caused uproar in the community.
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The Environment Protection Authority fined the business $8261 over the discharge of waste water into the environment, following community complaints about foul odours coming from the facility.
In a media release, EPA south west regional manager Carolyn Francis said the operator, Slade Beverages, would remove the "sludge" but a second inspection revealed it was still there four days later.
"Our initial inspection found organic sludge flowing an estimated 50 metres from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment unit onto open land on the premises at Dunnstown," she said in a statement.
"Another inspection a few weeks later found the company had removed the sludge material but had not complied with the instruction to cease discharging waste water, having instead made on-site modifications to the water flows.
"The company had had its chance to fix the problem but failed to comply fully, so EPA has fined it $8,261."
Follow-up inspections and discussions with the company will be ongoing, with a notice issued to install a bund around holding tanks to trap any further leaks.
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The organic sludge was determined to be from the beverage wastewater treatment and not related to the management of septic wastes in a separate system, the media release states.
The Cottonwood Springs factory, which opened earlier this year, has production lines for spring water and non-dairy beverages like almond milk, using water from beneath the Mount Warrenheip volcano.
Members of the public can report pollution by phoning EPA's 24-hour hotline on 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).
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