Dardanup Shire council approves dust management plan for Cleanaway-operated landfill facility

A plan to manage dust emissions from a controversial South West waste management facility has been approved by the Dardanup Shire council despite objections from several councillors. The Dardanup Shire Council was presented a dust management plan that was produced for the Cleanaway-operated Banksia Road Waste Management Facility in Crooked Brook. The plan was initially presented to council in April 2020 after Cleanaway was notified that the facility had been deemed a ‘dust generating development’ but was deferred to allow time for dust monitoring to take place along with community consultation. Air-quality monitoring, which took place in three locations within the landfill facility over six months between November 2020 and April 2021, indicated that particulate concentrations typically remained below the National Environmental Protection Measures criteria, with exceedances being largely attributed to off-site influences such as prescribed burns and bushfires. The plan stated the need for or specification of any ongoing instrumental monitoring past that initial six-month period would be determined in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Shire, with visual monitoring of dust-generating site activities continuing as a primary mechanism for ongoing monitoring. The plan also recommended a minimum 12-monthly review of the plan to ensure it was relevant and allows for continual improvement unless sooner at the direction of the Shire or any changes to dust emission guidelines, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation licence conditions or corrective action following an investigation. While it was agreed by councillors that the newly presented dust management plan was an improvement from a plan that was submitted to council in April 2020, Cr Ellen Lilly said the revised plan “still doesn’t have any teeth in it” in regard to ongoing evidence-based monitoring. “The current situation that we have with Cleanaway is when there are complaints or issues, there’s always excuses as to how it’s occurred,” she said. “They never seem to take responsibility nor do they put anything in place to remedy or mitigate or reduce the amount of dust that is produced. “Without that ongoing evidence-based monitoring, it’s going to be impossible for any of our officers to deal with complaints from Cleanaway because they will have different excuses. “Nobody will be able to have a decent conversation with them about their dust emissions and the proof of it.” However, Cr Peter Robinson said the minimum 12-monthly period would allow for a comprehensive review to take place if it was necessary. Following the discussion, the plan was ultimately carried five votes to two, with Cr Lilly and Cr Mark Hutchinson voting against it. It comes after the Dardanup Shire council in October unanimously voted to endorse a Shire-prepared Responsible Authority Report recommending to refuse Cleanaway’s application to the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel to develop three extra cells at the facility for landfill. An application to the State Administrative Tribunal was subsequently lodged by Cleanaway in November, which remains before the Regional JDAP.