CASEY’S mayor Geoff Ablett has called on the State Government to help foot part of the $77 million bill for the methane gas mess at the Stevensons Road landfill.
Councillor Ablett said the government should help ease Casey ratepayers’ “enormous financial burden” of $60 million because the council relied on the expert advice of many State Government authorities during the management of the closed landfill.
He called on the government to contribute $36.5 million to help cover some of the re-mediation costs including the recent $11 million deep trench wall.
“We always knew we had to spend about $17 million to rehabilitate the Cranbourne landfill site to cater for normal long-term decomposition, but we are now faced with a $60 million blow out that is both unpredicted and uncalled for,” Cr Ablett said.
Cr Ablett said the methane gas mess may not have occurred if not for Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s (VCAT) “poor land use decisions” in 2004 to remove the buffer zone that allowed for residential development to occur up to the landfill boundary.
“If the buffer at the Stevensons Road site had remained, we wouldn’t have had methane leaking into houses close to the landfill boundary, an emergency being called or this enormous financial burden that we are currently facing.” It was also disappointing the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) did not conduct a risk assessment requested by council and emergency services on 8 September, Cr Ablett said.
“If the EPA had conducted a risk assessment prior to the emergency as requested, we would be in a very different situation today.
“The CFA, which acted on the advice of the EPA, would not have been compelled to call an emergency that caused a major disruption to the lives of every living person in the Brookland Greens estate.”
But a spokesperson for the EPA said the authority stood by its involvement in emergency situation.
“The City of Casey is the owner and operator of the landfill and is responsible for fixing any issues from that site,” the spokesperson said.
“EPA does not operate landfills- we regulate them. The City of Casey has a responsibility to comply with the law and manage their site. EPA is pleased that some of the council works are complete, in particular the construction of the deep trench wall extending more than halfway around the landfill,” the spokesperson said.
Last September, residents evacuated their homes in the Brookland Greens estate when explosive levels of methane gas were detected in some homes. House prices plummeted in the area and more than 600 people have now joined a class action against the council.
Latest
The Friends recount history
As members gathered to recount their past and put the pieces of their extensive history together, the Friends of Wilson Botanic Park Berwick’s high...
