Lenti Lenko and his sons Christian and Dominic are battling the identical stench they tried to flee years in the past after it moved into their new neighbourhood.
Melbourne’s Lenko household have been left vomiting and suffocating within the horrific stench of their native tip for greater than a decade.
The household spent years dwelling downwind of the Hampton Park landfill, which Environmental Safety Authority (EPA) information exhibits has prompted greater than 1200 odour complaints in two years from residents of Cranbourne and Narre Warren South.
Lenti and Rachel Lenko purchased a house in Hampton Park in 2009 after the actual property agent assured them that landfill was “not a difficulty”.
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“They instructed us we would get a faint odor late at night time, however nothing that might go inside the home,” he stated.
“For 2 years, that was true, however by 2011, it was insufferable.”
Mr Lenko stated he referred to as the EPA to query the foul odours, however was instructed it was non permanent — whereas the landfill’s operators stated there was “no drawback”.
![VIC_HS_REALESTATE_WEIRDSMELLS_CASESTUDY_09MAR25](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Lenko household misplaced $150,000 attempting to flee the insufferable landfill odour solely to face it once more years later. Image: Mark Stewart.
“My spouse was pregnant, and the odor was so dangerous it made her vomit,” Mr Lenko stated.
“It was like being trapped inside a rotting garbage tip.”
The EPA later confirmed the landfill had breached environmental rules, resulting in ongoing neighborhood complaints.
Lenti Lenko stated his spouse was left vomiting from the odor whereas pregnant, but authorities assured them it was ‘not a difficulty’. Image: Mark Stewart.
After 5 years of complaints, the household minimize their losses and offered their dwelling earlier than shopping for into Narre Warren South in 2016.
“We misplaced $150,000 shifting to flee,” Mr Lenko stated.
“We’d paid off half our home. We’d be debt-free by now.”
Then, on Mom’s Day 2019, the nightmare returned — after that they had moved to their new dwelling.
“I used to be hanging out the washing, and all of a sudden it hit me — that very same disgusting odor, proper in my yard,” Mr Lenko stated.
Livid, he contacted the EPA once more, solely to be instructed the problem was being monitored.
Hampton Park residents have endured years of suffocating landfill stench, with greater than 1,200 odour complaints lodged in simply two years. Picture: Gemma Scerri.
With new growth plans on the desk, Mr Lenko stated he feared the problem would develop worse.
“What number of extra individuals should lose cash, lose sleep, and lose their sanity earlier than somebody does one thing?”
“This landfill shouldn’t even exist in 2025. And but, right here we’re, nonetheless preventing the identical battle.”
Apollo Auctions Victorian head Andy Reid warns that dangerous smells might slash dwelling values, and probably go away owners unable to promote.
In July final 12 months, the EPA fined SBI Landfill in Cranbourne practically $20,000 after drone flights detected breaches.
However Mr Lenko stated the fines had been “a drop within the ocean” in comparison with the harm executed to their properties and high quality of life.
Apollo Auctions Victorian head Andy Reid warned that dangerous smells might slash dwelling values, leaving owners unable to promote.
“If a worth seems too good to be true, it in all probability is,” Mr Reid stated.
“Unhealthy smells create dangerous emotional responses, and that interprets into decrease property values.”
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