Tip fight still on

By Melissa Meehan
TOXIC waste crusaders against the Lyndhurst Landfill say they are “not going away anytime soon” and will continue to urge the State Government to stop dumping hazardous waste at the site.
Lotte Dawes, vice chairwoman of Residents Against Toxic Waste In The South East (RATWISE) this week said that the group would continue to fight for the tip to be closed.
Now in its 10th year the group says they will not give up.
“We are looking after the future of the next generation,” Ms Dawes said.
She called on more public consultation and a public meeting to be held to keep residents in the loop.
Noble Park resident and member of RATWISE, Robert Gipp said it was time another meeting was held.
“With a lot of new residents moving in around the tip they may not be aware that it’s not just household waste,” Mr Gipp said.
“People need to be updated as to where everything is at, we need to be informed.”
They said while the news of “hazardous” or “prescribed” waste being dumped at the tip was not necessarily new it was important that their fears were not ignored.
“We want to know who is responsible if something like Brookland Greens comes out of this tip,” Mr Gipp said. “It is about the future.”
The tip was built in what was previously the City of Cranbourne, but the responsibility now rests on both the City of Greater Dandenong and the City of Casey.
The City of Casey has a transfer agreement, which it gained as the result of the amalgamation of the local councils. This means that City of Casey was the legal successor of the landfill site after the end of its aftercare period even though the landfill is in the City of Greater Dandenong.
SITA, the operator of the site, has recommended that Casey seek to extinguish the transfer agreement so that the landfill would revert to the State Government.
City of Casey engineering and environment manager David Richardson said the council had not made any decision on whether to sign the deed and relinquish its ownership of the site.
This transfer agreement is expected to be decided soon.
City of Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie agreed that it might be time for another meeting with RATWISE and said council had not changed its position on the site.
“We have council staff who are part of the community steering committee and have recently asked for a report and feedback on their first year of operation,” he said. “We want it to be closed at the earliest possible time.”
Government spokesman Chris Owner said the Lyndhurst Landfill would continue to be used for the safe management and disposal of prescribed industrial waste.
He said the EPA, in collaboration with the cities of Greater Dandenong and Casey and SITA, established a community engagement process for the facility to be guided by a Community Engagement Steering Committee (CESC) of 20 members.
“The CESC operates independently and provides an effective forum for information to be exchanged between SITA and the community about the operation and impact of the landfill,” he said.
“EPA Victoria requires SITA to report its environmental performance at the landfill every year using an independent environmental auditor.”