ALCOA let off DEC Hook - Sunday Times 15/2/09

The Sunday Times article, in which the State’s Ombudsman urged WA’s “environmental watchdog” to lift its game when dealing with complaints about pollution. The Ombudsman found that the DEC failed to properly respond to reports of odours, fumes, dust and health problems.

CAPS spokesperson, Vince Puccio, echoed the phrases that are so often encountered by community groups “Complaints were going from one office to another and none was being heard or addresses” and “the community felt it was fighting a losing battle because no one was listening to them.”

ACE’s own, Ron Jones, commented that “The way the department handles complaints is typical not just of ALCOA, but of many industries where complaints are made”.

Perhaps it is time for a competition:

“Try and list as many inquiries, investigations, articles etc where the DEC (or previous incarnations) where the department has been found lacking . . .”

Submission on Municipal Waste Management in WA

The Alliance for a Clean Environment has made a submission to the Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs for their Inquiry into Municipal Waste Management in Western Australia.

The Inquiry terms of reference are as follows:

Considering the ongoing community concerns about the odour emanating from the Regional Resource Recovery Centre in Canning Vale (RRRC) the Committee resolves to use the issues surrounding the RRRC as an illustrative practical case study to conduct a broader inquiry into

1) Current municipal waste management practice and methods in Western Australia, and in particular:

(a) The function, effectiveness and efficiency of rural and Metropolitan Regional Councils with respect to the management of waste; and

(b) The role of the Waste Authority under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007 in municipal waste management.

2) Resource recovery technologies; and

3) Any other relevant matter.

The ACE submission focussed on a number of issues, including the opposition to thermal processes (incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, and “waste to energy” plants) and landfills, and called for the establishment of suitable technology and siting criteria for proposed MSW treatment facilities.

ACE is generally supportive of composting processes, with the proviso that the siting and technology criteria are suitable, there is sufficient source separation, there is industry support for the recycling and reprocessing of recyclables, adequate regulation of facilities, ongoing research into methods of waste reduction, and management of problematic wastes.

ACE also called for the establishment of a classification system for composts that are derived from MSW or sewerage sludges, the fast tracked introduction of Health Impact Assessments, the development of an odour impact assessment guideline and regulatory regime, and called for the development of a new assessment, licencing, monitoring and enforcement framework that will work to address previous regulatory failures.

Finally, ACE called for the “3C” Process to be restarted so that it can fulfil its goal of establishing new and better hazardous waste treatment facilities in WA.

Full copies of the submission can be made available on request, and will be posted on the ACE website (www.ace-wa.org)