13th Beach & Surf Coast
SAVE OUT COASTLINE - NO MASSIVE INDUSTRIAL SLUDGE FACTORY TO BE BUILT AT BLACKROCK
Clean Ocean Foundation has commissioned an economic study of proposed development at 13th Beach to be presented in VCAT:
Click here to read the study
Click to read Geelong Advertiser story
STEP 1: STOP EXPANSION OF BLACKROCK TREATMENT PLANT - SAY NO TO SLUDGE FACTORY
STEP 2: PHASE OUT BLACKROCK OCEAN OUTFALL - WASTEWATER SHOULD BE RECYCLED AND REUSED FOR INDUSTRY & AGRICULTURE (LEAVE MORE DRINKING WATER AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE)
Barwon Water is proposing to expand operations at Black Rock by contracting a private company to build and operate a massive industrial sludge processing factory directly adjacent to the existing blight on the landscape. Barwon water calls their sludge which comes from industry and domestic sewage, Biosolids.
Currently Barwon Water compost the biosolids they produce from their 9 treatment plants at Werribee, now they intend to centralise and ‘privatise’ sludge processing at Black Rock. This expansion will compound the problems at Black Rock and will work against any attempt in the next 20 plus years to phase out or improve the treatment plant. While Barwon Water’ promises’ that only sludge from their 9 treatment plants will be processed at this factory, there is nothing to guarantee that the private company that owns & operates this factory will process sludge from other sources or that even toxic sludge will not be processed there in the future.
This factory has been planned for years and yet very few people outside Barwon Water have more than a sketchy outline of the scope of the project. How can a process come so far with so few knowing about it? Barwon Water say details of the project cannot be released to the public in the name of commercial confidentiality.
As planning approval is not required there is no formal avenue for the community to object to this sludge factory. The opportunity to have the potential environmental impacts of this industrial development in sensitive coastal zones (just metres from the beach), carefully assessed before the factory is built is also not available. This fragile coastal area is of regional environmental significance and is located within the catchment area of State Flora & Fauna reserves, World Heritage listed wetlands (RAMSAR) and Marine Parks.
Geelong province Labour Member Elaine Carbines advised the community at the public meeting in May 2006, that an Environmental Effects Statement was not required and that an EPA Works Approval will adequately cover community and environmental concerns. We are well aware that EPA Works Approval will not address the fundamental concern of the community - “Industrial sludge factory on the coastline within an environmentally sensitive area” Make no mistake, the EPA Works Approval will only allow the community to have their say on what pollution & odour control equipment is required. EPA Works Approval will not allow the community to ask whether this factory should be built there or even if the thermal drying technology chosen by Barwon Water is the right solution.
If Barwon Water thinks this sludge factory is the best solution, then they should not resist in undertaking an Environmental Effects Statements (EES) for this project. In an EES an independent panel will:
-
assess the potential environmental impacts of the proposed sludge factory, and
-
investigate other options for management of sludge with community input.
So far Barwon Water has resisted the call for an EES, do they already know that their sludge factory will not pass the scrutiny of an EES?
If Barwon Water and the State Government insist on building this industrial facility then they should do so in an industrial area, where they could dry their sludge with surplus heat generated from industry. No other water authority, having undertaken a review of thermal drying has chosen to go with it. For example, Sydney Water & many other water authorities chose composting.
Barwon Water is proposing a 20 year contract with this private company, so it is critical that they have an open and transparent process which allows public debate and consultation on the solution. Otherwise like the existing Treatment Plant at Black Rock we will be living with this debacle and all the problems that flow from it for the next 20 plus years. Barwon Water chairman Stephen Vaughn has publicly stated that he welcomed debate about the biosolids project. We have written to Stephen Vaughn asking him to honour his offer and instead of rushing this project through, halt the signing of the contract with the private company, and allow time for proper debate within the community. This includes Barwon Water working with the community and providing us with a real opportunity to identify and assess viable options for sludge management. At a bare minimum Barwon Water in conjunction with the community should appoint an independent panel to review and assess this sludge factory and compare it to other viable options for sludge/Biosolids management.
What do we know about Barwon Water’s choice of Thermal Drying technology as their solution to manage sludge/Biosolids?
United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) Fact Sheet on sludge/Biosolids management reports that:
Thermal Drying has high energy and fuel costs compared with other beneficial reuse technologies. It consumes massive amounts of natural gas and electricity and in return produces high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, does it make economic sense to thermally dry sludge? With the State Government telling us and industry to decrease energy consumption and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions, how can Barwon Water be allowed to go forward with this project without an independent and proper review against both government policies and other options available?
This factory will also generate large volumes of toxic effluent which will be fed back into the treatment plant and ultimately pumped out into the ocean.
Air toxics are produced from this process and pollution control equipment is required. Pollution control equipment itself also produces toxic waste, as they accumulate the toxins that they are required to remove. (not all toxics can be 100% removed)
Heat drying can be odorous for neighbouring communities affecting property values and the quality of life in communities subjected to them. Barwon Water has promised that there will be no odours beyond their boundary, but what boundary are they talking about? Barwon Water has been continually increasing their boundary by buying up the land surrounding the facility. Barwon Water says that if in the event the factory produced odours then the EPA will deal with them. Given that the Black Rock Treatment Plant continues to produce odours into the surrounding community, how will it be different with this factory?
Barwon Water has publicly said that they have engaged in extensive community consultation. Yes, they have put out bulletins and invited members of the public to an open day, earlier this year, to see the existing plant in operation and to learn something about sludge (biosolid) matters but the community has never had the opportunity to debate or question the process. Barwon Water has not provided any real opportunity for the full range of options to be identified and considered by the community. The large attendance at the public meeting held in Barwon Heads in May 2006 and collection of well over 800 signatures in only 2 weeks challenges Barwon Water’s public claim of having adequately engaged in ‘extensive public consultation’ on this proposal.
We acknowledge that sludge/biosolids must be managed by Barwon Water, however this project raises many questions:
-
Why does Black Rock have to become the central processing point for Barwon Water’s nine sewage treatment plants?
-
Is Black Rock the right place to build the plant, given the State Government's Coastal Strategy, which states:
-
That all building on the coast should add to the amenity of the public.
-
Suitable development on the coast is that which provides an environmental, social and/or economic benefit, enhancing the community’s value of the coast.
How will the amenity of residents, visitors and tourists be enhanced by the construction of another substantial and highly visible industrial plant — one of the biggest of this type in Australia — in full view right on the coast?
3. Why is no planning permit required? Why won’t the State Government instruct Barwon Water undertake an Environmental Effects Statement for their proposal?
4. Is the chosen process of thermal drying sludge the best way to deal with the sludge?
5. Can the project be transformed, in time, to process industrial sludge and then be used as some kind of toxic sludge processing plant, given that it will be a "public-private partnership" and that details of the project may be concealed from the public in the name of commercial confidentiality?
We are asking:
1. Barwon Water to delay their signing of the contract with the private company and allow for:
-
The community to have a real opportunity in identifying and assessing the options for biosolids management or at least as a minimum, Barwon Water in consultation and agreement with the community appoint an independent panel to assess this project
-
Stephen Vaughn, Chairman of Barwon Water, honour his public offer to debate this project
2. Bracks government to fulfil their promise to protect this area’s pristine coastline and put a stop to the signing of this contract to allow time to find a solution that is acceptable to both the community and the environment.
Dumping a cocktail of sewage and trade industrial waste into the oceans that we swim in severely compromises our precious marine ecosystems and our health. The wastage of such a scarce water resource in such a dry country cannot continue. Population growth within the Geelong region continues to be promoted, yet we are now on permanent water restrictions. Rather than adding to the development at Black Rock it is time to plan for the closure of the Black Rock Ocean Outfall to ensure that waste water is processed near recycle use areas, to be used in the future as a valuable water resource. With waste water being treated it can be used in industry and agriculture which will decrease their demand on our drinking water and leave more drinking water available to households.
Tell Michael Crutchfield, Lisa Neville, Steve Brack and Barwon Water chairman -Stephen Vaughn what you think
>Make your voice heard contact members of parliament & Barwon Water - make phone call, send emails, write letters, get on talk back radio..., CLICK HERE for details
Powered by Taten webevolve™
|