NSW has voted to launch an inquiry into waste incineration plans, such as the ones Veolia has in mind for Tarago. Photo: Veolia ANZ.
A NSW Legislative Council inquiry has been established into waste incinerators in the state after years of pushback on plans to expand the waste management technique to rural areas such as Tarago.
Plans to expand waste incineration in the state to deal with Sydney’s rapidly filling landfills have proved controversial.
In Parliament on Thursday (7 August), Nationals MLC Nichole Overall successfully moved for an inquiry after the release of draft plans outlined the expansion of the practice in NSW.
The inquiry will be chaired by Ms Overall, a Monaro local, who said the aim was to ensure people’s voices were heard.
“I’m very appreciative of the support received to advance this inquiry and also very appreciative of the opportunity to serve as chair of the inquiry, and look forward to working with [deputy chair] Amanda Cohn, the members and residents to find the best way forward,” she said.
“It’s very pleasing to see that we’re going to be able to progress all of this, and ensure that community members and residents are going to have their voices heard and their questions comprehensively addressed.”
The inquiry will look at areas including the performance of incinerator technology around the world, the potential spread of emissions, health impacts, and the methodology of emission monitoring used by waste-to-energy facilities in Australia and internationally.
Paige Davis, spokesperson for local advocacy group Communities Against the Tarago, welcomed the inquiry, but said the community was rapidly losing faith in the government.
“That’s [the inquiry] a win for us … in Sydney there’s risks to the human health and the environment from an incinerator, so you can’t build them there, but in the two-and-a-half-hour drive down the highway, they’re right.
“Interesting concept that one, isn’t it, but that’s essentially what they’ve said. So what happens between Sydney and Tarago? That means there’s no risk. Interesting question, right?”
Many in the small rural town have spent years campaigning against Veolia’s existing waste facilities. They have claimed the facilities are not adequately maintained, and create foul odours tens of kilometres from the waste site.
Ms Davis said that if the company couldn’t be trusted to keep smells under control, it wouldn’t be able to manage emissions from an incinerator.
Community groups have been protesting against Veolia’s presence in the community for years, complaining of foul odours in their town. Photo: Wendy Tuckerman.
State Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman, who is also on the select committee and has been a vocal critic of incinerators in her electorate, praised the inquiry push as a great win for the community.
“The NSW Coalition has been successful in securing a parliamentary inquiry into waste-to-energy incinerators following major concerns about Sydney’s excess waste being dumped in the regions,” she said.
The inquiry’s next steps will be establishing a submission period, followed by committee hearings.
Ms Overall said the committee wanted to conduct the inquiry as quickly as possible while ensuring everyone affected had a chance to be heard.
“We do want to progress it in as timely a manner as possible, but we also want to do it fully and comprehensively,” she said.
”That’s been part of the problem for community members and residents and those who have expressed concerns about these issues over the last few years.”
For Ms Davis, the inquiry is a positive step, and she said the community had recently received some positive political attention. She praised Ms Overall and Labor’s Kristy McBain for listening to the community.
However, she said after years of fighting, the community had become tired, with many residents now looking to move away from the town.
“I’ve got a 12- and a 13-year-old … they can’t remember a time when we weren’t fighting this,” she said.
”And that’s not fair. It’s not fair to them that this is where our conversations are, and that when we’re coming home from a holiday, it’s stressful for us because it’s like we’re walking back into stress … our farm is not a sanctuary for us anymore.”
Veolia was contacted for comment, but did not respond before the publication deadline.
The inquiry’s terms of reference can be found on the NSW Parliament website here.
