By Vanessa Chircop
EMOTIONS ran hot and opinions were heated at a public meeting held by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) last Wednesday.
The EPA hosted the meeting between concerned residents and Innova Soil Technologies to gauge community concerns regarding Innova’s proposal to build a contaminated soil remediation plant at the Dow site in Altona.
Last year a VCAT tribunal decided that the Innova facility required a town planning permit because it was not a petrochemical industry – while Innova attempted to argue that it was.
Since this decision Innova has lodged a works approval application with the EPA, who held last week’s conference to address community concerns prior to making their decision about the application.
Innova CEO John Lucas attempted to ease residents’ concerns but for several attendees it was to no avail.
However two residents at the meeting expressed their support for the proposal.
One resident said she thought the proposal was a great idea because it could clean up some of the many contaminated sites in Hobsons Bay.
“I want my grandchildren to be able to plant a tree without worrying what was in that soil.”
But she was quickly shut down by other residents who, though agreeing with the facility in theory, did not want it located near their homes.
“There are other contaminated sites – take our contaminated soil to them,” one resident said.
Another resident asked Mr Lucas if he could guarantee the contaminants in the soil his facility would process would not be responsible for cancers in the future.
“We once thought asbestos was safe,” she said.
Mr Lucas said they would employ the utmost care when transporting and processing the soil but made no guarantee to the resident.
He said soils would undergo a stringent set of tests and would not be processed if they contained mercury or heavy metals, adding he didn’t want to add to the pollution problems in Altona.
Other questions were raised about the lack of attendance at the meeting.
Some residents claimed the meeting had not been advertised properly.
An EPA spokesperson said the meeting hadn’t been advertised in the local papers because it wasn’t a public meeting as such – but members of the public were welcome to attend.
“Everybody who made a submission was contacted about the meeting.”
The EPA gave attendees to 30 March to add to their submissions before they make their decision on the application.
