The Baw Baw Shire has closed the Trafalgar Landfill site after the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) expressed concerns about recent rainfall increasing leachate levels.
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UPDATE: 9 November 2.08 PM:
Mayor of the Baw Baw Shire Councillor Diane Blackwood has told The Warragul Citizen in an email that it is “unknown” when the landfill site will re-open.
“The Council has engaged contractors to remove leachate from the site to maintain manageable levels. The Trafalgar landfill is expected to re-open when the EPA is satisfied with the management of leachate on the site. At this early stage, it is unknown when the landfill is expected to re-open. In the meantime, alternative landfills are located at 274 Hallam Road, Hampton Park and Velore Road, Kilmany,” Cr Blackwood said.
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A Baw Baw Shire media release today announced that the transfer station at the site will remain open for residential use; however commercial, industrial and building waste processing has been suspended until further notice.
Leachate is a liquid which has dissolved potentially harmful substances and risks draining into the environment.
Recent heavy rains in the area have increased the levels of leachate at the site.
The Trafalgar Landfill site is the only landfill site in the Baw Baw Shire and is used for the disposal of asbestos, low level contaminated soil, automotive oils and batteries, general commercial and household waste, electronic waste, paint tins, car bodies and tyres and green waste.
Mayor of the Baw Baw Shire Council Councillor Diane Blackwood said in the media release that the council is working to remove the excess leachate.
“Council contractors have been working since May to pump leachate out of the tip, and are continuing to do so to lower the levels,” Cr Blackwood said.
The EPA’s Best Practice Environmental Management document states that leachate must be controlled to ensure that it does not contaminate water sources.
“Since leachate can be toxic to aquatic organisms and cause eutrophication (nutrient enrichment of a water
body) in the waterways, it must be managed so that it cannot escape to surface waters.”
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