by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A proposed waste-to-energy plant in Taylors Road Dandenong South will emit an estimated 168,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, according to its proponent.
However, Equis Environmental Projects states the $250 million South East Energy Recovery Facility (SEERF) will still lead to a net reduction in greenhouse gases.
Equis states its emissions would be offset by 310,437 tonnes of annual greenhouse gas “savings” from displacing fossil-fuel-derived electricity and landfill emissions.
“Over the 25-year life of the project, the GHG emissions savings are expected to be 3,535,821 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.”
Further details have been revealed, with the release of Equis’s application for a development licence from Environment Protection Authority Victoria.
The incinerator, across the road from the Lyndhurst toxic waste dump, will burn 242,000 tonnes of waste a year that would otherwise got to landfill.
This would be nearly two-and-a-half times the rubbish processed at a recently-approved waste to energy plant in Ordish Road, Dandenong South.
Operating 24/7, the SEERF would generate 25 MWe in power a year, equivalent to powering 35,000 homes, according to Equis.
It states that 90 per cent of waste will be industrial and commercial sources, with about 10 per cent municipal rubbish.
Willow Lodge retirement village residents – who live about a kilometre west of the 845 Taylors Road site – are fighting against the proposal.
They say they would be sandwiched between the plant and the Ordish Road waste-to-energy plant, and their health issues compounded by the emissions, traffic, noise and hazards.
“The committee does not oppose the building of the waste-to-energy facility per se, but situating two … so close together is, we believe, unprecedented,” the Willow Lodge Village Residents Association stated in a letter to Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny.
Ms Kilkenny – who is also the local MP – will decide the planning permit application, bypassing City of Greater Dandenong as the planning authority.
At a 13 February council meeting, Greater Dandenong councillor Rhonda Garad asked how it could be ensured that residents near the plant were not breathing in harmful emissions.
She called for the council to submit for real-time monitoring being available to the public.
Cr Garad recently said Greater Dandenong was “set to become the rubbish burning capital of the South East and we don’t even get a say in the matter”.
According to Equis, emissions from the 70-metre stack would be “continuously monitored”.
The flue gases would be treated with “advanced air pollution control systems” and comply with current EPA and European Commission emission standards.
“Air emissions from the proposed Project will be minimal, with insignificant contributions to existing air quality effects and with no adverse air quality impacts anticipated.”
Air monitoring results would be provided to the EPA and publicly reported, an Equis spokesperson recently said.
The SEERP would produce waste in the form of bottom ash, boiler ash and air pollution control residues. Between 3 and 5 per cent would be directed to landfill.
The application to EPA opened for public comment on 21 February.
Submissions close at 11.59pm on 15 March. Details: engage.vic.gov.au/equis-environmental-australia-projects-seerf-pty-ltd-app020722
