Chemical waste site worries

Concerns have been raised by Dardanup residents who want assurance contaminants from the proposed Millennium waste site on Banksia Road will not leech into the Leederville aquifer.

Transpacific, formally South West Waste, is looking to build a waste site on Banksia Road in Dardanup for slurry from Millennium Inorganic Chemical’s Kemerton finishing plant.

The proposed site sits above the Leederville aquifer, the biggest source of groundwater on the Swan Coastal Plain which supports domestic, irrigation and industrial uses.

The Water Corporation also draws from the aquifer to provide drinking water for Australind and Dardanup.

A Transpacific spokeswoman said the waste management company was consulting the Environmental Protection Authority and Department of Environment and Conservation about the construction of the site.

‘‘The new cell will be specifically engineered to prevent seepage with multi-layer protection to groundwater and a minimum 30m depth of dense sandy clays between the base and the Leederville aquifer,’’ the spokeswoman said.

‘‘In line with current best practice, additional ground water monitoring bores will also be installed to ensure continued safe environmental management.

‘‘This monitoring will be undertaken by independent consults with results provided to theDECand the Shire of Dardanup annually and a copy will also be made available to the public in the local library.’’

Transpacific national projects manager Louis Sparks said the company knew the protection of groundwater was the community’s major concern.

He said Transpacific would welcome submissions about the project from the community and the company would work to help people understand what it was doing to mitigate risk.

The Department of Water will be one of the government bodies which will have to give the thumbs up to the proposed site before the project can go ahead.

Dardanup shire president Brad Day said the site was proposed under an arrangement between Millennium’s parent company, Cristal Global, and Transpacific and the council would not be involved.

He said if both companies complied with the DEC, there would be no reason for the council to interfere.