News
Page 4 The Moorabool News – 7 June, 2022
Email - news@themooraboolnews.com.au
‘Waste of time to consult’ (EPA) By Lachlan Ellis The Victorian Ombudsman released a report last week on the EPA’s approval of three sites for West Gate Tunnel soil storage, confirming the community’s concerns that the EPA “left them in the dark”. Ombudsman Deborah Glass began her report in August last year, examining how the EPA came to its decision to approve sites run by Maddingley Brown Coal (MBC) Bacchus Marsh, Cleanaway (Ravenhall), and Bulla (Sunbury), to store PFAS-contaminated soil from the West Gate Tunnel Project. Communities surrounding the three sites, concerned about the effects PFAS could have on them, complained that they were left out of the discussion – in her report published on 31 May, Ms Glass agreed with those communities. While the EPA was found to have “done its job according to the science”, deeming the PFAS concentration in the soil to be a low risk to any nearby communities, it “plainly failed to convince the community” of the low risk and only “achieved the bare minimum required by legislation”. “It [the EPA] did not compromise on the environmental protections. It assessed the danger of PFAS was likely to be low but adopted a cautious approach to the management of the spoil, requiring all landfill operators to safely contain PFAS at ten times the amount likely to be present in the spoil,” Ms Glass told the Moorabool News. “What they did not do was engage meaningfully with local communities about their decisions, including providing
What they did not do was engage meaningfully with local communities about their decisions. - Deborah Glass Vict. Ombudsman information that might have alleviated at least some of the fear and anxiety in the community. Community consultation largely consisted of providing factual information, much of it redacted, on their website,” Ms Glass said. “The failure to engage meaningfully with affected people caused an erosion of trust between the EPA and the community. The lack of information, of meaningful engagement, exacerbated the fear and anxiety in the community. An EPA official told us they thought it would be a ‘waste of time’ to consult because of the level of anger in the community. So local people told us they did not feel they were being listened to, their concerns were not being addressed, and the EPA had to be taken to court for communities to be heard.” Derek Madden CEO Moorabool Shire Council told the Moorabool News that Council welcomes the apology by the EPA. “Community consultation, or lack thereof, was one of the main concerns Council had with the approval process for Maddingley to be a proposed as a site,” he said. Following the release of the Ombudsman’s
Photo: Helen Tatchell
report, EPA CEO Lee Miezis put out a media statement, and also appeared at a media conference, apologising for the EPA’s actions. “We certainly acknowledge that there were significant shortcomings in our engagement with the community. Whilst the protection of the community and the protection on the environment was always at the forefront of decision-making, there were shortcomings in how we engaged with and explained those considerations to the community. We accept those, and for the distress that that has caused to those communities, we apologise,” Mr Miezis said at the May 31 media conference.
“While our decisions will always be based on science and the law, we have made significant improvements to how we engage with local communities about issues that affect them. This has been acknowledged by the Ombudsman in her report. The Ombudsman has made four recommendations, all of which are accepted in full by the EPA.” While the Ombudsman’s report will not affect the EPA’s approvals of the three sites, Mr Miezis says the EPA “will use the Ombudsman’s report and her recommendations to ensure the improvements we are making to our organisation continue”.
The Andrews Labor Government is
BACKING APPRENTICES WITH MORE SUPPORT OFFICERS For further information contact my office.
Michaela Settle MP
YOUR STATE LABOR MEMBER FOR BUNINYONG
15 Main Road, Bakery Hill VIC 3350 5331 7722 michaela.settle@parliament.vic.gov.au MichaelaSettleMP