Page 1843 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020

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The odour surveys revealed that the odour intensities observed beyond the MLRMC boundary were Distinct, Weak, Very Weak and Non-perceptible in the nearest residential area and industrial park. No odour has been found at the Strong, Very Strong or Extremely Strong intensity.

The ‘Distinct’ and ‘Weak’ odours could prove to be a possible cause for nuisance if kept unchecked (which can become more likely in situations where complainants become sensitised to the odour).

In addition to the above works, a short infield surface gas monitoring program in the vicinity of the active cells within the MLRMC using a gas detector has also been established. The purpose of this monitoring program was to quantify the gases released from the active landfill cells in order to monitor the performance of the tarpaulin covers. The monitoring program conducted in this round focused on measuring the infield concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (H2S).

To date four rounds of monitoring has been undertaken and it is recommended that the program is continued on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, odour samples were also collected using the AS/NZS 4323.4 Flux chamber technique to quantify the effects of the tarpaulin covers on the odour emissions from the surface of the landfill cells.

On analysis of the odour samples, it was observed that the use of tarpaulin covers causes a significant reduction in odour emissions. However, caution should be used in reporting exact reduction effectiveness as some odour leakage may occur around the edges of the tarpaulin but a clear inhibiting ability (probably greater than 50%) in reducing odour emissions was identified. The results of this work will be considered by the EPA in the evaluation of the Tarpaulin trial.

(8) (a)

(i) 2014/2015 – there is no Annual Report for end 2015 because the requirement for an Annual Report was only included in the EA in September 2016.

(ii) 2015/2016 – see response above.

(iii) 2016/2017 – report attached (Attachment A).

(iv) 2017/2018 – report attached (Attachment B).

(iv) 2018/2019 – report attached (Attachment C).

(b) EA No. 0402 is the former Stromlo landfill that was used as the repository for building demolition waste from fire affected residential build sites from the 2003 Canberra bushfires. The site opened and closed in 2003 with no requirement for Annual report as it was an emergency landfill.

(i) N/A

(ii)  N/A

(iii) N/A

(iv) N/A

(v) N/A

(Copies of the attachments are available at the Chamber Support Office).


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