Evelyn Way Pty. Ltd.
On 16 May 2007 EPA Victoria and Banyule City Council received a number of reports from local residents about odour from a proposed development site at 1 Evelyn Way, St Helena. EPA visited the site and ordered that the area be backfilled and exposed odorous material be covered over. EPA also issued a Minor Works Pollution Abatement Notice (PAN) (Adobe PDF file, 304KB) to the land developers, Evelyn Way Pty. Ltd. to ensure the community is not further impacted by odour from the site.
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EPA has been in regular contact with residents.
On Friday 15 June 2007 Coffey Environments on behalf of Evelyn Way Pty. Ltd. submitted a report to EPA in accordance with the requirements of the PAN. This is a preliminary report designed to assist in the development of an odour management plan. The report contains analytical results from the soil samples taken on site on 16 May when offensive odours where discharged from the site.
- Download the letter from Coffey Environments introducing the report (Adobe PDF file, 223KB)
- Download the report (Adobe PDF file, 349KB)
Initial indication has identified the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons, fatty acids likely to be from grease trap like wastes as the cause of the odour.
EPA has been advised that further site assessment works under the environmental audit will be taking place on site in the next week in areas outside of the known contaminated area. A contingency plan will be put in place to stop works and prevent odours should odorous soil or waste be encountered.
A decision on the future management/remediation and or development of the area of the site with the known contamination has not been made at this point.
EPA will provide further updates via this website following further evaluation of the report.
Background
The site is accessed via Evelyn Way and adjacent to Chantelle Rise and Crea Court in St Helena. Parts of the site were a former piggery, quarry and used as a landfill.
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) recently approved the development of a 51-unit subdivision on the site. Banyule City Council has requested that the developer carry out an environmental audit prior to works commencing. It was during the commencement of this audit process that highly odorous waste was discovered in the area of the former quarry.
The environmental audit will provide an assessment of the suitability of the land for the housing development.
Previous EPA actions
EPA requested that council officers attend the site ordering that the holes be backfilled and that the remaining exposed material be covered.
On 22 May 2007 EPA issued a notice to prevent offensive odours from further impacting the local community. The key aspects of the notice is that a plan must be developed to prevent further odour and an initial assessment of the possible sources of the odour must be provided as soon as they become available. We are expecting results shortly, as detailed in the PAN, and these preliminary soil results will help inform EPA and the auditor.
EPA’s role regarding the future of this site
EPA’s role is to ensure that during the development of the site, including any testing undertaken, the environment and the safety of the community is protected from impacts such as odour.
EPA will be monitoring the site during development to ensure this. EPA will be in regular contact with the auditor, Council, developer and the community to ensure the environment and the safety of the community is protected.
EPA will continue to keep the local residents informed as the environmental audit progresses and during any works conducted at the site.
EPA values your reports of pollution and encourages reports to be made through the Pollution Watch Line on 9695 2777.