By Violet Li
Waste management continued to haunt large parts of Casey in 2024. It was another year for locals to monitor and scrutinise the waste businesses and fight for the right to breathe fresh air free from tip smells.
Stevensons Brothers Industries (SBI) landfill
Down in the south of Casey, Stevensons Brothers Industries (SBI) landfill remained a headache for the surrounding communities.
February was met with a surge of odour incident reports in the vicinity, which residents believed could be attributed to the landfill.
A proposed planning permit amendment of the landfill surfaced in March and caused great concerns among the community. Locals told the paper they were concerned that the amendment would lead to increased traffic, dust, and diversion of stormwater to the nearby residential areas. The amendment document also revealed that the operator removed about half a hectare of native vegetation, allegedly without the authorised permits, during the past three years.
In July, the landfill faced nearly $20,000 in fines from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria after drone flights over its Ballarto Road Cranbourne site revealed inadequately covered waste in its landfill cells.
A week after, EPA Victoria announced that it settled separate legal action against the landfill “for the benefit of the community”. It said that the landfill would pay $200,000 for a project to improve the local environment and ensure company directors and key staff undergo further training. The State’s environment watchdog commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court against SBI and its directors on 4 August 2023, which the EPA stated that if proven could result in penalties exceeding $1.8 million for SBI and $360,000 for directors per allegation.
Local residents strongly criticised the settlement, underwhelmed and disappointed by the outcome. A spokesperson from the community said that after nearly two and a half years “of suffering the environmental crime inflicted upon us, many residents have seen no option but to leave the area”.
“Feeling forced from their homes to get clean air and alleviating suspected health impacts, therefore we feel the penalty is not proportional,” they said.
Hallam Road landfill
A leachate leak from the Hallam Road landfill was discovered in late November and an estimated one hectare of vegetation died in the neighbouring property.
The Anderson family, who owns the land on the east side of the landfill, was notified by the landfill operator Veolia about a burst of a leachate pipeline along the southeast side of the landfill. Then they found out the vegetation along the boundary had visibly died and a stinking smell remained in the air. The family was not happy about the latest leachate incident and believed the operator should have installed the pipework in such a way that leachate was contained to their property. A Veolia spokesperson at the time said following the repair of the pipe on the same day, they “commenced an urgent investigation into what caused this one-off event, and we began to assess the neighbouring property”. They added: “There was no harm caused to people and preparation works to fully clean up and remediate the affected area are underway.”
Proposed Hampton Park Waste Transfer Station
For Casey locals, 2024 started with the official lodgment of the planning permit for a $27m commercial waste transfer station next to the controversial Hallam Road landfill and ended with approval by Casey Council, shortly before the elected council. The proposed facility by landfill operator Veolia will be located approximately 250 metres from the nearest residential dwelling, and it is set to accept about 550,000 tonnes of municipal residual waste, construction and demolition waste, and commercial and industrial waste from Melbourne’s south-east.
The application was met with strong objections from the community with concerns about fire risks, midnight noise, and increased traffic, dust, and odour. Residents were especially concerned about the track records of the operator as odour from their landfill had been troubling the community for years.
They said they were left devastated, disappointed and angered after Casey Council approved the development.
EPA is assessing a development licence application by Veolia, a separate process from the planning permit application submitted to the council. Its five-week community consultation received more than 600 submissions and residents were told a consultation conference would be held in 2025 to gather more views and recommendations for the licence assessment.
