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Tullamarine landfill

22 July 2008 - Tullamarine Landfill Rehabilitation Consultative Committee meeting

You are invited to a meeting to help shape the new Tullamarine Landfill Rehabilitation Consultative Committee.

Meeting venue

Seminar Room 4,
Hume Global Learning Centre,
1079 Pascoe Vale Road,
Broadmeadows
6.45 pm for 7.00pm start - Finish 9.00pm

Download this flyer for more information (pdf Adobe PDF format, 55KB)

 

Tullamarine Landfill operators Transpacific Industries (TPI) have closed the landfill.

The company announced the decision on May 13, 2008 and it means the landfill will not accept any more waste.

The company is responsible for the rehabilitation of the site, which will now be finished earlier than expected.

EPA will ensure Transpacific Industries is accountable for the rehabilitation by placing legally binding requirements on the company. EPA has issued a notice ( pdf download Adobe PDF file, 59.7 KB) amending the licence recognising the closure of the landfill.

EPA will continue to work with the company to ensure an effective community consultation program is in place, to provide the community and council an oversight of the rehabilitation and site clean up process.

Background

The Tullamarine landfill is located to the north of Melbourne, near Tullamarine Airport (Melway page 5 E6). Under its licence, it received solid prescribed wastes and solid inert wastes. Transpacific Cleanaway has operated the landfill since the early 1970s. Past waste disposal practices at the site have included disposal of industrial liquid wastes, a practice that was banned in the late 1980s.

The Tullamarine landfill is managed through EPA licence HS346, which outlines the operating requirements for the site. The licence specifies operating conditions in relation to:

  • waste acceptance criteria
  • operating requirements including leachate and stormwater management
  • landfill rehabilitation and capping
  • landfill operations including odour, litter and dust control
  • groundwater, leachate, surface water and air monitoring
  • reporting to EPA.

Download the EPA licence (PDF file, 2313KB or 2.3MB)

On 16 March 2007, EPA amended the licence to set October 2009 as the date when no further prescribed industrial wastewill be allowed into the Tullamarine landfill operated by Transpacific Cleanaway.

The site must cease to operate as a landfill by 1 June 2010.

The announcement by Transpacific Industries to close the landfill brings forward the closure date and will enable the landfill to be fully rehabilitated earlier than previously planned.

Review of works approval decision

The decision by EPA to grant works approval to Transpacific Cleanaway Limited in September 2006 for a Oily Leachate Storage and Handling Facility has been appealed by third parties.The appeal will be heard in VCAT in 2008.
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No works in relation to this proposal can commence at this time. Transpacific Industries staed at the Tullamarine landfill Community Consultatve Committee meeting on 13 May 2008 that it believes the Oily Leacahet Storage Facility may only need to be a quarter of the size specified in its original application.

Recent landfill history

Investigation

Following two-days of on-site investigations in late 2007, EPA identified approximately 15,000m3 of suspected contaminated soil and industrial wastes stockpiled on the surface of the landfill. The stockpiling of this suspect material at the landfill rather than its disposal within the landfill is currently subject to an EPA investigation.

On 22 January 2008 EPA issued a minor works Pollution Abatement Notice (PAN) (Adobe PDF file, 354KB)  that requires Transpacific Cleanaway Ltd to deposit the suspect material into the active tipping area of the landfill.

The suspect material was placed in and filled Stage 6 of the landfill in accordance with the notice.

Whilst health and safety of the environment and community has not been affected, it is necessary that such wastes be managed in accordance with the licence conditions.

Transpacific applied for approval to place the remaining waste in Stage 7.

EPA issued a futher minor works Pollution Abatement Notice on 18 February 2008 that specifies that no waste may be accepted at the landfill without the written approval of EPA.

EPA’s investigations into licence compliance at the Tullamarine landfill are continuing.

December 2007 – Secondary Risk Assessment and Environmental Audit

On 13 December 2007 an Environmental Audit Report, prepared by an EPA Victoria appointed auditor, which reviews a Secondary Risk Assessment (SRA) of the legacy contamination issues at the Tullamarine site was submitted to EPA. The SRA, prepared by consultants for Transpacific Cleanaway, was submitted to EPA on 13 December 2007.

These reports recommend actions for future monitoring and management of the site, including additional groundwater monitoring, further monitoring of Moonee Ponds Creek and assessment of the feasibility of various clean up measures. Both the assessment and audit recommendations will guide decisions around the ongoing and future management of the landfill up to and beyond its scheduled closure in June 2010.

Further information in relation to these reports is provide below.

Past environmental management

Past monitoring required by the EPA licence indicated that:

  • groundwater bores on the edge of the landfill were impacted by leachate.
  • there is an increase in salt levels in Moonee Ponds Creek as it passes the landfill.

As a result, EPA directed Transpacific Cleanaway to undertake a thorough study to assess any risks the landfill poses to groundwater and surface water, particularly Moonee Ponds Creek which passes by the northern boundary of the landfill.

In response, Transpacific Cleanaway conducted a detailed assessment of water quality in Moonee Ponds Creek and installed and sampled further groundwater wells around the site. The results of this initial stage of risk assessment are detailed in the Preliminary Risk Assessment dated May 2004 and Addendum.

A review of the Preliminary Risk Assessment was conducted by an independent EPA appointed environmental auditor.

EPA also required Transpacific Cleanaway to complete a groundwater management plan to address current and potential future impacts from the site. Transpacific Cleanaway is currently completing activities outlined in the most recent EPA endorsed Groundwater Quality Management Plan (GQMP)

The Environmental Auditor, in his review of the PRA recommeded that further assessment of the potential risks posed by the landfill was required. This has been completed through additional works and was compiled within a Secondary Risk Assessment (SRA).

EPA is aware of the potential environmental impacts of this situation and has directed activities to manage this situation now and beyond the life of the site, for the benefit of the environment and the community.

Future environmental management

On 13 December 2007 Transpacific Cleanaway submitted the Secondary Risk Assessment (SRA) to EPA. The SRA includes:

  • an ecological risk assessment of Moonee Ponds Creek
  • delineation of groundwater impacts by modelling and monitoring particularly towards the Maribyrnong River
  • further targeted monitoring and risk assessment

The results, conclusions and recommendations of the SRA are summarised in the Executive Summary to the Secondary Risk Assessment.

An EPA appointed Environmental Auditor completed a review of the SRA to assess the adequacy of the study, review the results and conclusions of the study, and provide recommendations for the monitoring and ongoing management of any potential risks posed by the landfill. The Auditor’s comments and recommendations are included within the Environmental Audit Report for Tullamarine Landfill (Secondary Risk Assessment).

Unfortunately due to size of the SRA and Audit report files, it is not possible to post the full reports on this website. People interested in receiving a CD-copy of the reports can contact EPA on 03 9695 2722 to request a copy.

Key findings and recommendations of the Auditor

A review by EPA of the findings and recommendations of the Auditor has identified the following key recommendations to be considered during on-going management:

Groundwater

  • Additional bores should be installed to the south, south east and east, including observational wells along Wright St (nearest street to residents).
  • Chlorinated hydrocarbon plume identified in buffer land east of the site poses a low risk but requires further delineation and ongoing monitoring.
  • Further partitioning assessment of oily leachate (LNAPL) is required to assess the potential partitioning of organic contaminants into leachate/groundwater.

Surface Water

  • Further assessment of salinity is required to define the exact areas of high and low salinity in Moonee Ponds Creek adjacent to the landfill, as this is the only discernible impact on the creek.

Groundwater Quality Monitoring and Management

  • The existing Groundwater Quality Management Plan (GQMP) should be updated to include on-site and off-site groundwater monitoring as well as the other recommendations of the Auditor.
  • The EPA licence should be amended so that the updated GQMP is endorsed by both the Auditor and EPA prior to implmentation.
  • Transpacific Cleanaway should assess the feasibility and practicability of remediating LNAPL within the landfill.

Surface Water Quality Monitoring and Management

  • The updated GQMP should include a surface water, biota and sediment monitoring program.
  • The Rock Pond should be included in the surface water monitoring program.
  • Monitoring of frog, fish and macro-invertibrate indices should continue.

Risk Management and Remediation

  • Transpacific Cleanaway should immediately commence investigating the feasibility of installing an enhanced groundwater recharge system as a form of hydraulic containment to protect Moonee Ponds Creek.
  • Triggers be developed for instigating remediation of groundwater off-site.

In response to the Audit of the SRA EPA will provide comment to Transpacific Cleanaway, and seek that the necessary recommendations of the Auditor be addressed in a revision of the existing GQMP. The revised GQMP will form the basis of the on-going environmental management of landfill up to, and beyond the closure of the facility.


EPA would anticipate Transpacific Cleanaway to provide a revised GQMP to EPA and the Auditor for endorsement in early-to-mid 2008. There will be opportunities for community input into the revision of the GQMP and information in relation to this consultation will be provided on this website and advertised in local media in early 2008.

Once endorsed by EPA and the Auditor, EPA will make the revised GQMP available on this website.

 

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