By Esther Lauaki
Furious residents are preparing to blockade the Wyndham Vale stabling yard where the government is proposing to dump contaminated soil from the Westgate Tunnel.
Government officials met with Wyndham council staff this month and revealed a proposal to use the site to temporarily dump some of the soil, which contains PFAS, from the Transurban project.
More than 300 residents attended a community meeting last night to map out action against any proposal to store toxic soil at the Hobbs Road railyard – or anywhere else in Wyndham.
The state-owned 82-hectare site, which backs onto the heritage-protected Werribee River, is just 70 metres from houses and abuts land for planned housing developments and four schools.
Community organiser Lisa Heinrichs said the first actions will be to barricade the site and organise a local rally.
“We are vehemently opposed to the dumping of any contaminated soil in the city of Wyndham,” Ms Heinrichs said.
“It’s not welcome in Wyndham…We can’t have any of it rumbling through our streets.
“We want to let the state government know that if they pursue this, we will not allow their trucks to enter.
“One of our first calls to action will be a local rally…and then we will give the government an opportunity to back down like they did last time.”
Unexpectedly, Werribee MP Tim Pallas turned out to address the room of angry, sometimes booing residents at Wednesday night’s meeting.
He reiterated his message that the Wyndham Vale site would only be a “back-up” solution.
“There are a range of sites being considered for the ongoing storage of soil – none in the electorate of Werribee – but the Wyndham Vale Stabling Site may be used as a temporary facility in rare instances where the permanent sites can’t be accessed,” Mr Pallas said.
“This would be entirely safe, and would only be temporary for a number of days until the soil is moved to where it needs to go.
“There’s every chance it might not be used at all, but it’s important that the right controls are put in place just in case it is.”
The Wyndham Vale site is among a series of government-owned sites being eyed off to dump the West Gate Tunnel soil,with sites in Bacchus Marsh and Avalon all understood to be on the list.
If the proposal goes ahead the dumping site would need to be rezoned and receive the Environment Protection Authority’s approval.
The latest proposal comes more than 20 years after thousands of Wyndham residents lead a three-year campaign which resulted in the state government scrapping plans for a toxic dump and waste management precinct for the quarry next door to the Wests Road tip.
