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4 OCTOBER, 2022
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EPA fires up legal action By Matthew Sims The Environment Protection Authority [EPA] Victoria has extended the supension of Barro Group’s operating licence until January 31, 2023, and is finalising the next steps in legal action against it to expedite extinguishing the final underground hotspot fire at Kealba Landfill. In a statement, the EPA said while Barro has indicated it plans to complete the remediation work before Christmas this year, the authority’s environmental crime investigators and legal team are looking at their options. “EPA continues to hold Barro Group to account and is using all available legal avenues to ensure the best outcome,” the spokesperson said. “This could include prosecution, licence cancellation and fines.”
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We’ve been left to our own devices. We’re at our wits’ end - Marian Pham
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Action Against Barro Landfill members Nicole Power and Marian Pham are demanding immediate action from the state government and the EPA on the ongoing Barro Landfill hot spot fires. (Damjan Janevski) 301111_04
have also launched an online petition calling for immediate action to fully extinguish the fires, with the petition attracting more than 840 signatures at the time of publication. St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman said she understands the community’s disappointment, as she is a Kealba resident herself.
“We are frustrated and angry,” she said. “We want to see an end to the Kealba landfill. “ It should have never been approved.” Ms Suleyman said she has been engaging with Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio and the EPA for a number of years, including prompting
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the EPA to conduct and release a report on the regulation of the site and measures to prevent similar issues occurring in the future. The next community meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 4 at Kealba Hall from 4pm to 7pm, with future community sessions scheduled for Tuesday, November 8 and Tuesday, December 6.
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As previously reported by Star Weekly, Barro Group had previously set a deadline of August 22 to extinguish the fires, which has now passed. Barro Group then requested the deadline be extended to February 17, 2023, but the EPA rejected the request. Consisting of more than 180 residents of Kealba, St Albans and surrounding suburbs, the Action Against Barro Landfill group has penned an open letter to St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman to express their “ongoing anguish and disappointment about the continuing neglect of our community”. Action Against Barro Landfill representative Marian Pham said more needed to be done immediately. “We’ve been really disappointed at the lack of action from Natalie Suleyman and the EPA,” she said. “We’ve been trying to hold them to account. “We just need them to follow through.” Ms Pham said the group had also reached out to Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio to take action on the issue. “We’ve been left to our own devices,” she said. “We’re at our wits’ end.” The Action Against Barro Landfill group