By Alesha Capone
Wyndham council is working to rectify “legacy issues” at the Wests Road landfill, after being issued five pollution abatement notices (PANs) since October.
The notices were issued by Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) in an effort to manage landfill gas and to ensure the site is compliant with an EPA guidance document on best practice at landfills.
EPA western metropolitan manager Stephen Lansdell said gas levels at the landfill were found to exceed the levels at which the authority requires action to be taken to prevent odour and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The PANs require the site operator to install more bores and wells to manage and assess gas migration, to develop an action plan to reduce gas levels, and to repair the soil coverage on some cells,” he said.
Mr Lansdell said the notices were initially served in October and November 2020 but some requirements were amended under an order from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal earlier this year.
Mr Lansdell said that EPA inspections have shown that progress is being made at the Werribee site, including the installation of wells along the eastern boundary of one cell to control landfill gas migration.
The EPA has also issued a clean-up notice requiring the council to reduce the height of two of landfill cells, to the height approved in its licence to operate the landfill.
Wyndham’s director of city operations, Stephen Thorpe, said the latest PAN was received by the council on May 11.
Mr Thorpe said the matters raised in the PANs primarily related to historical practices undertaken at the Werribee landfill site during the “less stringent environmental regulations” of past decades.
“These practices, such as the approved design and construction requirements of older landfill cells, have now resulted in legacy issues that council is rectifying,” Mr Thorpe said.
“For example, council is now working with the EPA to focus on improving the performance of the landfill gas extraction system by completing the final capping of cells as quickly as possible.”
Mr Thorpe said the council worked closely with the EPA and an independent EPA-accredited environmental auditor to manage and prevent environmental impacts at the Wyndham landfill.
