Sarah Rajic has lived in her home at Macarthur for three years, but if she has to experience a summer like the last she won't be there much longer.
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Every so often, a putrid odour creeps across her backyard, often where her three children are playing, and in through the windows of the family home.
While the summer smell was bad, and the family was enduring it almost every day, this winter the smell has returned.
As recently as last Saturday Mrs Rajic complained about the smell to the ACT government.
This was just one of almost 100 complaints made to authorities in the past eight months from residents in the Macarthur area about the ongoing stench.
A spokesperson for the ACT government said while it was reasonable to think it was coming from the Mugga Lane area, they had not been able to pinpoint the exact location.
In Estimates on Tuesday Liberal Member for Brindabella Nicole Lawder asked what was being done to address the issue.
She questioned whether staffing at the Environment Protection Authority was adequate.
"Despite complaints… you have been unable to determine the source of the smell," Ms Lawder said.
She questioned whether the government would impose higher standards at the site to address the issue.
ACT director for Regulatory Compliance, Construction, Environment and Workplace Protection Greg Jones said if the odour was found to be coming from the rubbish tip, "all reasonable remedial action" would be taken to minimise it.
"I guess we also need to face that it is a rubbish area, a recycling area, and a green waste area… and these activities do produce some odours," Mr Jones said.
The Estimates committee heard that in the last eight months, 90 complaints had been received in relation to the smell, from residents in the Macarthur area.
"It has been an ongoing issue," Mrs Rajic said.
"It's a bit embarrassing when you have people outside the area coming to your house and it stinks."
Mrs Rajic said she understood there was work being done on the tip over the summer, and the smell was a temporary inconvenience from that, but it had become more constant.
"If we have another summer like last summer, certainly [moving] is something we would think about," she said.
A spokesman from Access Canberra said the matter was still under investigation.
Fadden residents have also raised concerns about the smell and the Canberra Liberals have questioned the efficiency of the "sniff test" used at the tip.
Correction: A previous version of this article said the ACT government had confirmed the Mugga Lane Resource Centre was the cause of the smell. This was incorrect. The ACT government has been unable to pinpoint the location of the smell.
