GrainCorp’s facility at Numurkah in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley is Australia’s largest oilseed-crushing plant.

GRAINCORP has reached a settlement with residents living near its Numurkah oilseed-crushing plant, ending a long-running class action that was due to go before the Victorian Supreme Court this week.

Numurkah resident Kevin Carling Green and his family commenced civil action against the agribusiness about four years ago before re-launching it as a class action.

Since then, Mr Green has acted as the lead litigant in the proceedings, joined by at least seven other group members in the action.

According to court documents, Mr Green lives about 100 metres from the Numurkah facility and claims he has suffered harm from noise and odour emitted from the site since January 2017.

He claims the factory emitted an “excessively loud noise” and an “offensive odour” described as typically “having a grainy smell with a strong chemical undertone”.

He claims the rise in noise and odour problems stemmed from a “significantly increased oilseed crush and processing volume” since 2016.

It is alleged that GrainCorp breached a duty owed to the litigants under the Environmental Protection Act 1970 (Vic) to minimise the risks of harm to human health or the environment from pollution.

The group was seeking compensation for the loss of enjoyment of their properties, saying the noise and odour have affected their sleep, health and comfort, and reduced the value of their land.

They also asked the court to order the company to stop the nuisance.

In its defence filings, GrainCorp “denie[d] the allegations” put forward by the action.

The case was initially listed for trial commencing Monday, before both parties announced a settlement had been reached.

Any details of the settlement remain confidential, and Grain Central understands the court has yet to approve the agreement.

In orders published on Monday, Justice Jacinta Forbes listed the matter for a directions hearing at 9:30am on November 21.

Justice Forbes also ordered that by 14 November, Mr Green must file a formal request for the court to approve the settlement, along with any supporting documents.

A GrainCorp spokesperson confirmed that an “in-principle settlement” had been reached between the parties.

“The proposed terms of the settlement are confidential, and the settlement is subject to court approval,” the spokesperson said.

“We are proud of the work of our employees at Numurkah and fully support our people and the important role they play in supplying high-quality canola products to customers in Australia and overseas.”

Numurkah is one of two crushing plants operated by GrainCorp, the other being Pinjarra in Western Australia.

Numurkah accounts for the bulk of GrainCorp’s crush, crushing around 475,000 tonnes of its total 540,000t crush in 2024 financial year.

GrainCorp purchased the site from Gardner Smith in 2012.

As Riverland Oilseeds, Gardner Smith began oilseed crushing at the site in 1978.

Grain Central: Get our free news straight to your inbox – Click here