Kwinana airs waste worries

The City of Kwinana has written to the Environmental Protection Authority to air a number of concerns over a proposed waste-to-energy facility in the East Rockingham Industrial Area.

The proposal for the facility, which is being led by New Energy Corporation, would see a waste-to-energy plant built on Office Road in East Rockingham, neighbouring the border of the City of Kwinana.

New Energy’s proposal for the facility had already been given the tick of approval by the EPA in the past, but a revision to the project’s technology saw it return to community consultation.

Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams said the City wrote to the EPA because it had concerns the change from gasification to grate technology for the processing of waste had the potential to affect residents and businesses in Leda, Calista and Medina.

“The City’s primary consideration is for residents close to the facility who may be impacted in certain wind conditions as the facility is on our boundary in East Rockingham,” Ms Adams said.

In addition to writing to the EPA over the proposal, the City of Kwinana council also backed a motion on February 14 that would see Ms Adams and chief executive Joanne Abbiss advocate to Landcorp, the EPA and the City Rockingham over relocating the proposed plant to Kwinana’s heavy industrial area.

New Energy chief executive Jason Pugh acknowledged the City had every right to lodge a submission with the EPA, but swiftly rejected a number of the City’s claims and said the project would not be moving location.

“The modelling studies for air quality parameters and noise emissions similarly demonstrate that the proposed location and design of the facility meet the highest environmental standards and will not impact on either industrial or residential zoned land,” he said.

“The modelling study clearly shows that the residential odour contour barely extends to Old Mandurah Road, which is more than 1500m from any residential area within City of Kwinana.

“We would also point out that the site was selected by the then Department of State Development and Landcorp as the most appropriate location for the project, not New Energy.”

City of Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said any comment should be constrained to a scientific view of the facility’s environmental impact at the proposed site, not speculation about where else it could be located.