Mandurah composting facility C-Wise threatens residents with legal action for ‘defamatory’ Facebook posts
A composting company says it won’t pursue further legal action after threatening to sue two Mandurah residents for defamation over Facebook posts that criticised its odour outputs.
The letters, sent by Glen McLeod Legal on behalf of Nambeelup-based organic recycling company C-Wise, said local residents John Hamilton and Wendy Munro had made “defamatory and potentially serious imputations” against the business while posting on the Facebook group ‘Lakelands and Surrounds Stink’.
The group’s posts are only visible to its members, and the group was created for residents to report instances of odours which have plagued Mandurah’s northern suburbs for months.
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C-Wise and intensive piggery CM Farms were formally identified by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in February as the sources of the ongoing odours.
DWER issued environmental protection notices to both businesses, requiring them to investigate the odour and fix issues causing it, and in May announced it had found “significant issues with the (wastewater) ponds” located at one of the businesses following odour investigations.
DWER declined to name which business had been identified.
Last week a DWER spokesperson confirmed both businesses had undertaken the required action and submitted the required reports under the EPN.
A yard at C-Wise's current Mandurah facility. Credit: C-Wise
DWER said no additional odour sources had been identified since the EPNs were issued, and an investigation into the odour was still ongoing.
The department said it would not provide any outcomes of its investigation until it had been finalised.
The letters sent to Ms Munro and Mr Hamilton, seen by the Times, dispute comments and posts made by them which suggest C-Wise is to blame for the odour.
Ms Munro’s letter details that a post she made on May 20 conveys defamatory meanings in her description of the odour that has plagued the area.
Her post, seen by the Times, does not directly refer to C-Wise.
The letter sent to Mr Hamilton referred to several comments he had made on the group, also around May 20, and alleges he has attempted to “incite protest at the C-Wise site” through his comments.
The letters require them both to publish a “reasonable correction of the imputations made” or an apology, and make an unspecified payment to C-Wise in order for the defamation action to cease.
Otherwise, the letter stated, the company would “commence court proceedings” against them “without further consideration”.
Both Mr Hamilton and Ms Munro did not respond to the letter with an apology or payment as requested.
After the Times asked C-Wise if the company planned to take legal action over the posts, a spokesperson said they did not intend take any further legal action following the letters, “as long as public debate is conducted respectfully”.
C-Wise’s Co-Founder and Managing Director Dave Cullen, CEO Greg Watts and Co-Founder and Director Andy Gulliver. Credit: C-Wise
The spokesperson said the company had become aware of “posters” online which were considered “an inappropriate use of our images” and so they issued the letters to ask for their removal.
The spokesperson said the company is complying with the EPN issued by DWER earlier this year and are “awaiting further correspondence” from the Department.
They said C-Wise had undergone two odour compliance inspection visits this year before receiving the EPN which showed the company had “complied with its licence”.
They appeared to refute DWER’s finding that C-Wise was a cause of the odour.
“In the last six months and prior to the EPN, C-Wise received six visits by the DWER’s Pollution Response Team,” the spokesperson said.
“Each visit failed to find any significant odours on C-Wise premises.
“C-Wise is acutely aware of the community’s concerns about odour in the region, and the multiple sources that contribute to it. Our business and staff are keen to ensure that it does not cause a nuisance to our neighbours.
“C-Wise is happy to continue to work constructively with the Department to minimise potential odour emissions.”
C-Wise is expected to start construction in September on a $42 million new recycling plant which will eventually replace its current premises and enable processing of FOGO waste.
The new facility’s proposal, which cleared state planners on June 6, will be built with significant odour management measures in place that are not present in the company’s current facility.