Tip fight goes on

By Melissa Meehan
Lotte Dawes, Cranbourne resident and vice-chairwoman of Residents Against Toxic Waste In The South East (RATWISE) this week said that the group would continue to fight for the tip to be closed.
Now in its 10th year, the group says they will not give up.
“We are looking after the future of the next generation,” Ms Dawes said.
“We want it to be closed down and want to know who will be held accountable if something goes wrong in the future.”
She called for more public consultation and a public meeting to be held to keep residents in the loop. RATWISE member, Robert Gipp said it was time another meeting was held.
“With a lot of new residents moving in around the tip they may not be aware that it’s not just household waste,” Mr Gipp said.
“People need to be updated as to where everything is at, we need to be informed.”
They said while the news of “hazardous” or “prescribed” waste being dumped at the tip was not necessarily new, it was important that their fears were not ignored.
“We want to know who is responsible if something like Brookland Greens comes out of this tip,” Mr Gipp said.
“It is about the future.”
The tip was built in what was previously the City of Cranbourne, but the responsibility now rests on both the City of Greater Dandenong and the City of Casey.
The City of Casey has a transfer agreement which it gained as the result of the amalgamation of the local councils. This means that City of Casey was the legal successor of the landfill site after the end of its aftercare period even though the landfill is in the City of Greater Dandenong.
SITA, the operator of the site, has recommended that Casey seeks to extinguish the transfer agreement so that the landfill would revert to the State Government.
City of Casey Manager Engineering and Environment David Richardson said council had not made any decision on whether to sign the deed and relinquish its ownership of the site.
This transfer agreement is expected to be decided soon.
City of Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie agreed that it might be time for another meeting with RATWISE and said council had not changed its position on the site.
Government spokesman Chris Owner said the Lyndhurst Landfill would continue to be used for the safe management and disposal of prescribed industrial waste.
He said the EPA, in collaboration with the cities of Greater Dandenong and Casey and SITA, established a community engagement process for the facility to be guided by a Community Engagement Steering Committee (CESC) of 20 members.
“The CESC operates independently and provides an effective forum for information to be exchanged between SITA and the community about the operation and impact of the landfill,” he said.
“EPA Victoria requires SITA to report its environmental performance at the landfill every year using an independent environmental auditor.”