McLaren Vale waste depot under scrutiny after EPA rejects PFAS dump bid

It won’t be allowed to accept PFAS contaminated waste but now triumphant campaigners are taking a closer look at the other nasties at the McLaren Vale dump.

A McLaren Vale dump’s bid to accept PFAS-contaminated waste has been knocked back by the EPA – now triumphant campaigners, have vowed to scrutinise the dump’s licence for other types of waste, which is up for renewal.

The Environment Protection Authority board was unanimous in its decision to reject Southern Waste ResourceCo’s plan for its Tatachilla Road depot.

EPA chief executive Tony Circelli said the board felt the proposal, despite its excellent design, would be “taking a chance on the local environment” because it relied so heavily on engineering measures, including a double liner around the waste “cell”.

Mawson MP Leon Bignell, who was among the campaigners who feared the plan posed a chemical and reputational risk to the wine region, said the rejection was a “massive win”.

He said attention would now turn to scrutinising other “nasties” already allowed at the dump. They include toxic metals, cyanide and organic solvents.

Drone images of the Southern Waste Depot landfill site, about 4km west of McLaren Vale. Supplied: EPA

“We need to sit down and actually just work out what are the dangers and then have that discussion with the community that I represent, to see what the next steps should be,” Mr Bignell said..

A spokeswoman for Southern Waste ResourceCo said the application to take PFAS waste was in line with national standards.

“The intent was to see PFAS moved off source sites, where it poses a risk to the environment, to a purpose-built facility of world standard, where it could be safely and appropriately managed,” she said.

“The application was not for a dedicated PFAS waste facility, as it was expected less than 5 per cent of the total incoming waste at the new, highly sophisticated disposal cell would contain low-level PFAS waste.”

Contamination expert Professor Ravi Naidu, managing director of a national research body on contamination assessment, said the EPA had made a “good” decision, as PFAS was an emerging contaminant that was not well understood.

But he was not concerned about the current operation of the dump.

“There’s a whole lot of toxic substances on the licence and I note this landfill has been there for quite some time now, (but) there is no evidence anything is leaking,” he said.

“Every one of those chemicals you see (on the licence), we do know a lot about their toxicity and behaviour, (unlike PFAS).”

Mr Circelli said: “We haven’t had any concerns around the current landfill.”

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