The Rutherford Stink survey conducted by Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison received replies from about 100 people reporting ill health that coincided with the detection of offensive odours.
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Of those reporting health conditions when they smelled the odours, 22 people reported symptoms related to asthma or other breathing problems.
But Ms Aitchison said she was astounded by the low number of people to report smells and health problems.
Just under 200 people responded to the survey, of whom 153 had smelt an offensive odour.
“Along with the number of health problems people attribute to the strong chemical smell, the low number of people reporting this is concerning,” Ms Aitchison said.
“It is so important that people tell the Environment Protection Authority what they are experiencing,” she told the Mercury.
“A crucial concern is that about 45 per cent of respondents did not report their observations and about 95 per cent did not keep any written record.
“This survey has highlighted a higher-than-normal presentation of asthma in this area.
“I would like to see further resources put into seeing this percentage drop.
“And I want a collective approach from all agencies, which I believe is the key to solving health problems here,” Ms Aitchison said.
“If the health of people is being impacted by this problem, it needs to be looked at – along with the work the EPA is doing to monitor industries contributing to this problem.”
Ms Aitchison said she would forward the survey results to both the EPA and health ministers to see what more could be done to alleviate the problems.
Survey responses indicated the smells tended to last from 10 minutes to 24 hours, and were generally present throughout the night or into the early mornings.
Most people described it as a chemical smell or a burning oil smell.
They complained of nausea, headaches, stinging eyes, runny noses, skin rashes, dizziness, coughing and burning in their throats, breathing problems and asthma.
Residents burnt out after 20 years of stink
Residents and workers exposed to the Rutherford stink are becoming burnt out over the long battle to stop the offensive odour in the city’s west, Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison says.
Of the 8000 surveys on the effects of the stink that were sent out across Rutherford, Aberglasslyn, Telarah, Farley, Lochinvar and Windella, Ms Aitchison only received about 200 responses.
This represents a response rate of about 2.5 per cent.
Ms Aitchison said mail-out surveys generally attracted a small proportion of responses and a rate of about 5 per cent was common. But she said the low response rate did not reflect apathy in the community about the Rutherford stink.
“There’s a lot of burn-out in the community,” she said.
“People have been advocating on this for 20 years and they wonder what is going to change now, so it’s hard to convince them that I am here to do something. People might think I’m just trying to play political games, but I’m not.
“You’ve also got the fact that it’s been going on for 20 years.”
