Ipswich waste company NuGrow to take state government to court over Environmental Protection Order

The company was ordered to stop accepting liquid waste at its Ipswich facility until ‘appropriate’ infrastructure was in place to manage it.

NuGrow founder and managing director Roy Wilson at the company’s Swanbank site.

AN Ipswich waste company will take the state government to court after it was ordered to stop accepting liquid waste at its Swanbank facility until “appropriate” infrastructure was in place to manage it.

The Department of Environment and Science issued an Environmental Protection Order to NuGrow in April regarding its Ipswich waste treatment and recycling facility.

The company’s Environmental Authority states stormwater run-off from “disturbed areas”, caused by a storm up to and including a one in 10 year 24-hour event, must be retained on-site.

NuGrow founder and managing director Roy Wilson at the Swanbank facility.

It can only be released in the case where “beneficial reuse on site is not viable”, a release is “required to maintain the required stormwater retention capacity” and there are no contaminants present “which may cause environmental harm”.

The Swanbank facility was inspected by the department on March 24, with liquid seen leaving the northern boundary of the premises.

“The liquid was brown in colour, had odorous characteristics and from observations made of the site, the authorised persons believed the liquid was contaminated stormwater,” the EPO noted.

During another inspection on March 29, liquid was seen seeping from an earthen batter at the facility.

“The authorised persons also noted there was a significant amount of sediment at the fence line between the premises and the neighbouring land that was not present on March 24,” the EPO noted.

“The sediment was causing the chain-link fence to sag.

“During the inspection the authorised person also observed that a sediment fence installed along the northern boundary of the premises was buried, or partly buried, under sediment/earthen material, with only the tops of the star pickets visible.

“The authorised person believe that the accumulated sediment was the result of stormwater/leachate run-off from the premises.”

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The officer observed the liquid that had pooled on neighbouring land and near the northern boundary of the site was “black in colour and highly odorous”.

During both inspections that month the department did not find any sediment and stormwater catchment basins or a leachate pond for the capture and treatment of liquids.

The department alleged a one in 10 year storm event did not occur just prior to, or on the days of the inspections.

It stated the highest rainfall recorded for the month, taken from the Bellbird Park station, was 70mm on March 23.

The rainfall figure for a one in ten year event for the area is 161.04mm, the department said.

“You failed to prevent contaminants from the premises as prescribed,” the EPO stated.

NuGrow was ordered to install cut collection drains and temporary sumps to collect run-off and leachate - the liquid formed when waste breaks down in landfill and water filters through it - from open air windrow areas.

“(NuGrow needs to install) sufficient pump-out capacity to transfer collected leachate from the sumps to the enclosed liquid deposition tank,” the order stated.

“Where all the sumps and the enclosed liquid deposition tank are at capacity, you must remove leachate and run-off to an offsite disposal facility that can lawfully receive it.”

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NuGrow applied to the department for the EPO to be internally reviewed.

As a result, DES issued a varied EPO in May with “minor changes”, a department spokesperson said, which “achieves the same environmental outcomes as the original”.

“The varied EPO requires that NuGrow not release contaminants from its site,” they said.

“It also requires NuGrow to prevent contaminated water ponding on site unless there is appropriate storage, such as a sealed dam.

“The EPO also states that NuGrow must stop accepting liquid waste from 27 May 2021 until appropriate stormwater management infrastructure is in place.”

The spokesperson said NuGrow had filed an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court against the varied EPO and applied for a stay of requirements two and three of the varied order.

The hearing of the stay application is listed for June 15.

In response to questions from the QT, NuGrow chief strategy officer Peter Thompson said it wasn’t appropriate for the company to comment as it was an ongoing legal matter.

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Originally published as Ipswich waste company NuGrow to take state government to court over Environmental Protection Order