Cleanaway operated the Tullamarine landfill under an EPA licence. When the landfill closed, EPA issued Cleanaway with a post-closure pollution abatement notice (PC-PAN). A PC-PAN is a legal notice that EPA uses to make sure that former landfill sites are properly managed. There are conditions in the PC-PAN that Cleanaway must meet. The conditions make sure that they manage the landfill site properly. 

The conditions cover how Cleanaway manages: 

  • Leachate. Leachate is a liquid that is formed from rainwater and waste breaking down. 
  • contaminated groundwater offsite  
  • landfill gas 
  • surface water 
  • the landfill cap. The landfill cap is a cover that is put over the closed landfill, to seal it from the environment. 

The notice currently requires Cleanaway to have an environmental audit done every year. An environmental audit looks at pollution at a site, and the risk it poses. 

Read next

Tullamarine closed landfill 

Tullamarine closed landfill: environmental monitoring 

Reviewed 4 October 2021