By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
THE operator of Lyndhurst’s toxic waste dump has pointed the finger at an “unlicensed landfill” in Dandenong South containing highly toxic contaminants.
SITA’s state manager Daniel Fyfe said it was inappropriate that the capped and lined mound (CALM) on the corner of Greens Road and EastLink was not under the same “standards, monitoring and controls as a prescribed waste landfill is”.
The CALM is filled with untreated polluted sludge — carcinogenic dioxins, asbestos and heavy metals — collected from dried lagoons at a former waste-water and sewage treatment plant on the 188-hectare site.
It was given works approval by the Environment Protection Authority. Adjoining Dandenong Creek, the mound is subject to ongoing groundwater, gas and leechate monitoring.
From 2006, the most contaminated soils were excavated and dumped into the sealed mound to make way for the Logis eco-industrial park – a mix of warehouses and retail uses.
Melbourne Water and Places Victoria, who are overseeing the project, plan for the CALM area to become open parkland and soccer fields.
Mr Fyfe said SITA’s proposal to instead accept the waste in its prescribed waste landfill in Lyndhurst was rejected because the developers wanted to avoid paying about “$150 a tonne” in landfill levies.
“I think anyone who entombs an [untreated] material should be subject to the landfill levy. It’s a long-term issue that’s going to be there. How many sites in Dandenong are going to be dealt with in this way?”
Ian Jensz, who lives metres from the contentious Lyndhurst landfill, is an unlikely ally.
“I think it’s wrong what the EPA is doing. They say it couldn’t go to Lyndhurst landfill because it was too dangerous to take on the road. Why have we got a hazardous-waste landfill if we don’t use it?
“Everyone should be aware what’s in that CALM. I want a sign put up to say what’s in there. It’s next to Dandenong Creek, there’s a housing estate 500 metres away — it’s like a red flag to me.”
Melbourne Water property manager Doug Tipping said contaminated material was not transferred to Lyndhurst to “avoid thousands of truck movements transporting contaminant material through the streets of Dandenong”.
“The cost of remediating through disposal at Lyndhurst was also considerably higher than containing on site.”
An Environment Protection Authority spokeswoman said the CALM was not a landfill because it didn’t accept outside waste and was not “operational”.
Places Victoria chief executive Peter Seamer said PV was working with the EPA to ensure the CALM site met “all necessary standards” for recreational use.
Greater Dandenong city planning director Jody Bosman said an environmental audit of the former plant site wasn’t required under the council’s planning scheme but council officers had insisted on one as part of “due diligence’.
The CALM project won a gold award in the environmental category of the 2011 Consult Australia Awards for Excellence.
HISTORY OF THE SITE
1938: Domestic treatment plant was constructed.
1954-55: Trade waste treatment plant was built.
1960-90: Effluent lagoons, sedimentation tanks, sludge basins and settling basins were built.
1992: The plant was closed.
1996: The EPA issued a pollution abatement notice to Melbourne Water to reduce wastes on the site.
2006: Remediation works started.
Source: UBS environmental audit of the site, 2010.
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