Page 707 - Week 02 - Thursday, 18 February 2016

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(7) Since March 2015, has the contracted operator of the Mugga Lane tip covered and uncovered the compacted waste material on a daily basis, using a covering material approved by the Environment Protection Authority.

(8) Since March 2015, has the contracted operator of the Mugga Lane tip applied the day cover at the end of each operational day and removed it before the commencement of the next day’s operations.

(9) Has an ACT Government representative conducted a site visit of the Mugga Lane tip in the past four weeks to monitor the contracted operator’s compliance with Environmental Authorisation No. 0375 or other; if so, on what date(s).

(10) How often does an ACT Government representative conduct a site visit of the Mugga Lane tip to monitor compliance with Environmental Authorisation No. 0375 and are these announced or unannounced site visits.

(11) How is the smell assessed on a daily/weekly/other basis.

(12) Is any monitoring equipment of the Mugga Lane tip set up, or is it “manual” monitoring.

(13) Are there any plans to introduce new monitoring systems.

(14) If the ACT Government does not agree that the odour is emanating from the Mugga Lane tip, where is it coming from and what is the cause.

(15) What testing or analysis has been carried out to determine the cause of the odour.

(16) What amelioration activities have been undertaken.

(17) Is testing carried out at or near the methane plant and can the Minister provide details.

(18) Can the Minister provide details of when drainage piping work was conducted at the Mugga Lane tip in November 2015, December 2015, January 2016 and February 2016.

Mr Barr: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) Since December 2015 there has been an increase in complaints coming from the nearby suburbs, predominantly Fadden, alleging the smell was emanating from the Mugga landfill.

While odours are still being reported, investigations are continuing in order to discover the source of the odours.

As part of the on-going investigations it has been noted that some capital works have been undertaken at the tip which involved the excavation of old waste material which is far more odorous than more recently buried waste. These operations were monitored by capital works staff from Territory and Municipal Service Directorate (TaMS) who indicated that the works did not impact on the surrounding residential areas (see reply 18).


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