22 August 2017

Fyshwick waste burner proponents to address public meeting

| Ian Bushnell
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The proponents of a waste to energy and recycling plant in Fyshwick will address a public meeting on Wednesday 23 August at 7 pm at the Harmonie Club in Narrabundah.

The Inner South Canberra Community Council is organising the meeting so the community can find out more about the proposal and ask questions.

Ewen McKenzie and Adam Perry from Capital Recycling Solutions will present the case for the Fyshwick Materials Recovery and Waste to Energy Facility.

Capital Recycling Solutions Pty Ltd (a joint venture between Benedict Industries Pty Ltd and Access Trading Company Pty Ltd, trading as Access Recycling) has proposed the development of a waste incineration and recycling facility at the former Shell fuel storage facility at 16 Ipswich Street in Fyshwick.

Waste that is currently buried at Mugga Lane tip would be diverted to Fyshwick where up to 25 per cent would be recycled, and the remainder burned with the heat used to generate electricity. It would also take material from NSW material as well as burning sewage sludge.

A similar proposal from a different company in western Sydney is meeting fierce community opposition.

Jonathan Teasdale from the Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, will outline ACT Government processes for assessing waste to energy proposals, while former head of the Environment Quality Division at the Federal Department of Environment, Dr Diana Wright, will present the pros and cons for the proposal.

President of the Griffith Narrabundah Community Association, Dr Leo Dobes, will discuss the potential impacts of the proposed waste facility on the community.

The meeting will conclude with a Q & A session with a panel of speakers, followed by motions from the floor.

The ISCCC says on its website that while the facility would dramatically reduce the amount of material going to landfill it was a matter for expert advice whether incineration would produce less overall greenhouse gas warming compared with burial.

It also discounts the company’s claim that delivery of some waste by rail from NSW would take trucks off the road, with ACT waste material continuing to be delivered by truck to Fyshwick. “Any increase in rail traffic will only eventuate if suppliers of NSW waste choose to deliver it this way,” it says.

The ISCCC wants to know the minimum and maximum estimates of truck movements to service the facility, including monthly deliveries and removal of ash and recyclables, assuming no material is delivered or removed by rail.

It also queries whether the ACT Environmental Protection Agency has the necessary statutory independence, authority, powers, knowledge and resources to adequately monitor the facilities for odour, smoke, dust, noise, particulates, greenhouse gases, other gases, heavy metals, toxic and acid residues in the ash, and compliance with all other agreed performance criteria.

“Can it provide adequate and reliable baseline data so that we can know how the waste facility has added to these pollutants?

“Will the EPA have the power to shut down the facility if it thinks that any one of the agreed emission standards for the facility is breached?”

The ISCC also concerned that there be monitoring of long-term impacts on the population such as the Government’s longitudinal study of residents in Mr Fluffy houses.

The website lists 31 questions ranging from traffic issues, air quality and monitoring and waste components to regulatory matters.

A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being prepared for submission to Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD), which will seek comments when it is lodged.

For more information go to https://www.isccc.org.au/

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