A SECOND contaminated soil treatment plant will be built in the Dandenong area.
Renex Group chief executive Peter Mirkov announced works were set to start on the four-hectare Ordish Road plant, which will treat up to 70,000 tonnes of soil a year by 2014.
He said it would reduce the amount of contaminated soil going to landfill by 20 per cent.
Most of the treated soil will be reused for items such as compost and concrete.
A permit for the plant was rejected by Greater Dandenong Council, but approved on appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. It was also approved by the Environment Protection Authority.
Residents Against Toxic Waste in the South East spokeswoman Thelma Wakelam said it was time for Dandenong to wind down its dependence on “dirty industry”.
She raised doubts whether there would be a market for the plant as well as SITA’s 60,000-tonne plant in Taylors Road, Lyndhurst. A third similar plant in Altona is subject to a VCAT hearing late this year.
Renex will hold a public information session from 7pm on Thursday at the Drum Theatre, 226 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong.
