There is now EPA regulations in place to allow Hazardous Waste into Municipal Landfill's that can qualify as a "Best practice Landfill". This could apply to any Municipal Landfill in any Suburb, Town or City in Victoria (Including Mildura).

I am currently objecting in the City of Casey against SITA for changes to their Landfill permit that would remove the local Council from the position of Responsible Authority, replacing the Council with reference to an EPA licence.

Well so this looks innocent enough and possibly the most responsible thing to do. But there is a slight catch to this statement. The EPA has changed the regulations relating to the Municipal Landfills.

If you have a look at the listed documents, you will see that any qualifying Municipal Landfill is able to accept Hazardous Waste. The descriptions below the categories that could be accepted and are as per EPA documents 1040, 1062 and 996.

Category C(1) wastes include wastes that are highly odorous and/or are dusty. These wastes are largely food processing wastes.
Category C(2) wastes include:
• prescribed industrial wastes with low contaminant levels which are largely from industrial or manufacturing activities (these wastes will be referred to as low-hazard industrial wastes)
• treated (or immobilised) prescribed industrial waste which, prior to treatment, was a Category B waste (these wastes will be referred to as Category C immobilised waste)
• low-level contaminated soils
• waste asbestos from industrial sources, or that has been removed by a licensed asbestos removalist, that has been double wrapped in plastic sheets as required by EPA Publication 364, The transport and disposal of waste asbestos.

The Hampton Park Progress Association is objecting to the proposed changes to the Permit for the Hallam Road Tip. The Amendment to their permit would allow Hazardous Waste to be dumped at this site.

The Health and Safety of Hampton Park, Lynbrook and Cranbourne North resident is at risk. We have residential housing sharing their fence line with the landfill, others just a couple of hundred metres.

Councils must retain the right to control of what can be accepted.

My community has a hazardous waste treatment plant operating just 500 metres from a cafe.

Despite the current government's election promise to relocate this plant, with its shabby technology and after a large protest rally, they have failed to do so.

The hazardous waste plant "treats" (amongst other substances)arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt and copper compounds, cyanide, chromium, fluorine, lead, mercury, perchlorates, metal and plastic wastes, fly ash, plasticisers, drums of contaminated residues of a controlled waste, hydrocarbons, pesticide solutions and contaminated soils ClassIV or V.

Class IV or V in my state is deemed intractable waste and must be interred in a compound for radioactive waste. However, these solids are dumped at a Class 2 and 3 landfill along with everything else.

Councils when accepting the above hazardous wastes for landfill, simply perform "grab" samples, a practice this community views with much skepticism.

The EPA together with its Department of Environment are the regulators and are pathetically incompetent. Its senior members have currently been mentioned in the Corruption and Crime Commission's investigation into senior bureaucrats and politicians' behaviour over the influence of industry lobbyists.

If Sita treats the hazardous waste for landfill, I would suggest (if not already done so) you obtain the Conditions of Licence and their Annual Report which should give you a precise decription of the categories you mention and the annual tonnage sent to landfill.

I regret to say that Appeals in this state have been a waste of time. I recall when the Environment Minister upheld a community appeal, the Dept. of Environment simply ignored her determinations.

FOIs have revealed that these departments treat community complaints with contempt and during any appeal the department acts as a defence for the pollutant industry, continually duping their ministers since ministers rarely have the required background to understand the chemistry of air pollutants.

EPA's were formed to protect the environment and public health. They have failed. The endemic culture within these departments is to protect pollutant industries.

In answer to your question: "Can the EPA be trusted with Hazardous Waste?"

That's a firm NO from me.

After sending this info about the EPA's handiwork to every Council in Victoria, I am now getting emails from some, thanking me and acknowledging that the issue is something to watch. It also shows that they were not fully aware of the EPA's work on Hazardous Waste.

I don't blame the Councils, I believe the EPA has not told the Councils everything the should have. It's a bit like only passing on what they really have to and leaving unsaid all the nasty stuff.

It is becoming very clear that the new regulations have been brought in surreptitiously and without the proper Public and Municipal consultation.

I am not too sure where to go with this, as the placement of Hazardous Waste in Municipal landfill has to be stopped. I imagine my next step will come when SITA apply to take up the new EPA regulations and try to put the Hazardous Waste in the Hallam road landfill. Then we need to take it too the people.

2H

I don't believe that the EPA can force a council to accept the wastes you refer to.

The normal procedure is that a council who wishes to participate, must apply and meet the EPA criteria to be licenced. The landfill must be constructed in accordance with the EPA's directives.

Unless matters differ greatly to my state, I would imagine that the council has applied to take the wastes. Therefore, perhaps you should redirect your concerns to the council.

The Victorian EPA invited interested parties and stakeholders to comment on the relevant regulations last year and the comment period closed on 30/6/06.

Unfortunately, EPA's have a habit of not widely publishing their invitations to appeal or comment! They prefer to keep the masses ill-informed!

Those contractors and councils which become licensed to take the waste must report periodically to the EPA who should be conducting random inspections of the operations at landfill sites.

It may be of interest to you to enquire with the council as to which wastes they have been accepting at their landfill prior to the new regulations and whether they have applied to the EPA for the amended categories.

I suspect the current wastes accepted for landfill will be similar to the new ones.

Newly named categories - same hazards as before!

I appreciate the comments ‘dickie’. However, I am already talking about this to council and they had not realised that they were about to approve the Amended permit, deleting the Council as the Responsible Authority and replacing it with the EPA licence.

As soon as the Council is removed from the Permit, I believe SITA (in this case) would only needed to apply to the EPA to qualify as a Best Practice Landfill and they would automatically be eligible to allow waste that the EPA regulation permits, "Hazardous Waste Class C" etc.

With the Council as RA, it would have to be advertised locally, as against the EPA’s secretive advertising, giving us a chance to defeat this.

The Council only letter dropped 70 homes and advertised in one local paper, because they had not realized the implication. We have approx 20,000 residents within a couple of km from the site. The Officers have now amended their stand and will refuse to relinquish control.

My main reason for pushing this issue is that it will affect every landfill that meets the EPA Best practice conditions and could happen without public consultation. I believe it has already started with a handful of sites, such as Bulla.

2H

I omitted to add that municipal wastes must be treated somewhere.

Unfortunately, EPAs aligned with pollutant industries, fail to ever consider proximity of landfills or pollution to residential areas and the industry aligned EPA's considerations are always with the polluters where profits are paramount and communities must suffer.

Perhaps you should lobby the council to move the landfills to a more remote area. Despite the EPA regulations, this is the council's responsibility.

You may succeed where we have failed!