BRIMBANK Council is investigating two former landfills amid fears they could be contaminated.
The council is set to appoint environmental consultants to conduct testing at Sunshine Energy Park and St Albans’ Carrington Drive Reserve after preliminary investigations revealed potential risks to the environment due to landfill gas and chemicals.
An independent assessment conducted on the sites last year concluded that groundwater within the landfill was contaminated.
Auditors will also monitor the flow and concentrations of landfill gases in streets surrounding the landfills.
Twelve bores will be installed within the sites and surrounding streets to test the groundwater and the presence of gas.
At least three of the bores will be constructed near homes in Denton Ave, St Albans and will be monitored for at least three years.
Despite the testing, the council has insisted the contamination poses no risk to the community and has called on residents to remain calm.
The council’s general manager of infrastructure and environment Paul Younis said the investigations indicated that gas levels at the sites were moderate to low and would not impact on residents’ health.
A colourless and odourless gas, methane is not toxic but can cause asphyxiation or explosions if exposed to a naked flame.
Mr Younis stressed the situation was markedly different from the methane gas scare that forced the evacuation of more than 30 households in Cranbourne in 2008.
“There is no evidence to suggest that landfill gas is accumulating underground in homes near Carrington Drive Reserve as it disperses into the atmosphere across the landfill sites,” Mr Younis said.
Mr Younis said the council was concerned contaminated groundwater could seep into adjoining waterways, potentially polluting the environment. But he said the dirty groundwater posed no direct risk to residents unless they either drank or made contact with the water.
“But that is unlikely to happen because the groundwater is between eight and nine metres below surface level,” Mr Younis said.
“And it’s quite salty and clearly unfit for consumption.”
The council will use remote sensing to determine the exact boundaries of the landfill, which are currently unknown.
The tests will determine the integrity of the landfill caps, which are believed to be faulty.
Further investigation will also reveal whether work needs to be done to extend or improve the landfills’ gas collection systems.
