Tasmania is the only state in Australia without a Category C waste disposal cell. If we are to hang our hats on being a clean, green state we must all take responsibility for the waste we produce.
After gaining all statutory approvals to construct a C cell at the Copping landfill site, Southern Waste Solutions (SWS) responded to a call for increased community consultation and has gone to great lengths to have a two-way conversation about issues concerning the community.
Many people are now comfortable with the project and it is important for those who still have queries or concerns to be well informed and armed with the facts.
In response to the article by Shane Humphreys published on the Tasmanian Times website, Copping landfill: The potential for catastrophe (25 February 2013, HERE), SWS would like to clarify some important issues.
• SWS has never claimed the landfill is more than 2km from the Carlton River. We have consistently stated the proposed location of the C cell is 1.75km from the river. We use accurately scaled maps to calculate this distance.
• The RDA (Regional Development Australia) excluded regional organisations of councils based on mainland models of these organisations. They were also excluded to prevent individual councils from double-dipping into grant funding. The RDA was well aware of our situation and welcomed our proposal. They assessed the project on a competitive basis and found it deserving of more consideration.
• The amount charged by state governments for landfill levies is up to governments to decide. Queensland has no levy and is the dumping ground for other states.
• SWS does not offer cheap contracts. Our fees are similar to those charged by other southern Tasmanian landfills and it is important to note that one other landfill actually charges significantly less for some commercial carriers.
• We certainly do not plan or hope to receive more than 300,000 tonnes of waste annually for the next 100 to 200 years, as this volume is extremely high and would mean the closure of the landfill well before its expected closure date. The landfill has an estimated life span of 100 years if it accepts waste from the entire southern region.
• There is no evidence that all of the Macquarie Point soil can be remediated on site. In fact, for several reasons the contrary is the case. The RHH proposal is not validly comparable to the Macquarie Point development. The two projects have completely different requirements in relation to remediation.
• SWS was approached to consider accepting waste from Antarctica – this is not something we asked for or sought out. If we do agree to accept waste from Antarctica, it will only be after all conventions, protocols, legislation and regulations have been satisfied.
We would like to reassure the local community that the recent bushfires did not cause any significant damage to the landfill – demonstrating the robustness of our fire management plan and the suitability of the site for a C cell. In fact, all of the site’s earthmoving and compaction equipment was moved to the C cell site for safety during the fire and it was unharmed. There was certainly never any risk to the community from ‘masses of toxic gas’ or any quantity of toxic gas at all.
For more information we encourage people to visit the Southern Waste Solutions website which is regularly updated at http://swstas.com.au.
