Noses out of joint as fire-damaged gelatin factory tries getting rid of semi-processed beef

A putrid odour filled the Christchurch suburb of Woolston today, as the fire damaged Gelita factory removed beef skins, before they start to rot.

A massive blaze on January 4 destroyed the air filtration plant at the factory, and left many of the processing areas open to the air.

Although numerous measures have been taken to reduce the odour, one local resident told 1 NEWS it smelt “Jjst like decaying flesh”.

Nicola Carson, who was out walking her dogs early this morning, says the factory has always smelt, but it’s been worse since the fire.

“It affects the way that I live in the sense that I’ve thought about moving out of the area.”

However, Environment Canterbury, who monitored the odour levels today, is happy with the measures taken to reduce the stench.

Gelita general manager Gary Monk says “The amount of odour coming off was probably less than we expected so we're quite pleased at this stage.”

And the operation isn’t over yet. Today was just a trial run removing 30 tonnes of animal product from a single concrete tank. There are still 31 more tanks to empty containing 1470 tonnes of beef skin.

The rest of the clean-up will get underway next week.