Contaminated water from Ipswich dump site flows into local rivers; Cleanaway fined for environmental breaches

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/ipswich-dump-cleanaway-environment-breach-waterway

Water flowing from a dump in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is contaminated with dangerous chemicals and is leaking into nearby rivers prompting fresh concerns from locals, a new report has revealed.

Under their Environmental Authority commitments, the Cleanaway New Chum Solid Waste Landfill facility is banned from allowing water to flow out of the site from the ponds at its northern-most point.

Since the beginning of the year, the company has twice been fined by the Department of Environment and Science (DES) for breaching this directive — with fines totalling $26,690.

Ipswich Residents Against Toxic Environments (IRATE) secretary Geoff Yarham said this was a slap on the wrist for the company, which had been warned about the water releases since mid-last year.

“If the public and the local authorities are complaining, you would think you’d get up and get off your backside and do something and manage it properly,” Mr Yarham said.

“The concept is to manage the ponds so water shouldn’t actually exit the site and contaminate the environment.

“Whenever there’s heavy rain you can generally state these ponds will overflow because they’re not managing them within the requirements of the licence.

“I drive past on a regular basis to inspect the ponds and even yesterday the ponds were still brimming.”

Chemicals and odour issues plague locals

Water from the ponds flows overland and into Six Mile Creek, then into the Bremer and Brisbane rivers.

Cleanaway was already banned from letting the water leave the dump due to suspended solids that have been found in it.

Those solids were mostly dirt but also contained particles of waste from the landfill.

The new report, titled “New Chum waste management facility — addendum environmental report”, commissioned by Cleanaway and completed by Epic Environment, has now confirmed the water also contained more PFAS than was considered safe.

PFAS, or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals, are used for a range of household and industrial purposes and are associated with a multitude of health risks, from low infant birth weights to cancer.

Once in soils and waterways, PFAS can take a long time to break down and lose its toxicity.

Mr Yarham said this, along with odour issues from the dumps in the region, meant residents had major concerns for their health.

He said he it was imperative for the state government to act.

A DES spokesman said it took Cleanaway’s breaches of their environmental obligations seriously.

“DES issued Cleanaway with an Environmental Evaluation on 21 November 2019 which required them to investigate the sources and extent of PFAS at the site and provide a report including recommendations to prevent, or minimise further releases,” the spokesman said.

‘A beautiful city with an ugly problem’

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said her council took 42 per cent of Queensland’s waste and the city needed more support to tackle the health and environmental concerns.

“The trucks keep coming in on roads we pay to maintain, and we see little to no benefit,” she said.

“If we don’t talk about it, don’t address it, it’s going to get worse and worse.”

Mr Yarham said the state government needed to step up.

“The Ipswich City Council can’t do anything about it,” he said.

“All the waste companies are managed and overseen by the state government.

“Even though the Queensland Government claims they have a very strong regulatory environment, that is not the fact.

“When it comes to enforcement it is as weak as dishwater.”

Cleanaway did not respond to the ABC’s request for comment.