Claims that a fire has been burning at the Werribee tip for months are a load of rubbish.
That’s the word from Wyndham council and the Environment Protection Authority, who insist that a “hot spot”, not a fire, is under observation.
The “hot spot”, defined by the EPA as “hot waste underground with no flames, visible smoke or gaseous emissions”, is located in the tip’s cell 4a, which is no longer in operation.
Star Weekly was alerted to the issue by Harry van Moorst of the Werribee Landfill Community Reference Group. He claimed that an underground fire had been raging at the tip for months.
Mr van Moorst said the council should have informed the community about the issue long ago.
“It’s an underground fire,” he said.
“It’s not something we should be so much scared about as cautious with.”
Wyndham city operations director Stephen Thorpe said staff noticed an increase in temperature in June and had since drilled holes in the affected area, which would soon be injected with liquid to temper the hot spot.
Mr Thorpe said the hot spot should be subdued within the next two to three weeks.
“There is no fire at Wyndham’s Refuse Disposal Facility,” he said.
“What is occurring is a ‘hot spot’ where a patch of rubbish has increased in temperature, which can be a common occurrence at landfills.”
Mr Thorpe said the hot spot had yet to be subdued because a drill had to be specially sourced from Queensland and specific technicians had to be brought in to do the job. He said the council had continued to monitor the area and no damage had been caused.
EPA metro manager Daniel Hunt said the authority had issued the council with a notice in March to bring its methane emissions into line with its EPA licence by the end of November.
“While the site is currently in breach of its EPA licence, there is no risk to the local community,” Mr Hunt said.
“Failure by the council to comply with EPA’s notice could result in further enforcement action under EPA’s compliance and enforcement policy.”
