Dust to be health hazard in construction waste recycling plant proposal
A ‘state significant’ proposal for a construction waste recycling facility on the Central Coast has raised health concerns with one expert saying there is no safe level of exposure.
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There is no safe level of exposure to particulate air pollution from the proposed multimillion-dollar construction waste recycling facility at Somersby, a health expert has warned.
Central Coast Local Health District Director of Public Health Dr Peter Lewis has made a submission on the proposed Kariong Sand and Soil Facility in Gindurra Road which will potentially crush 200,000 tonnes of construction waste each year.
Dr Lewis’ submission said studies had shown that there was no identified point below which exposure to dust and other airborne particles did not have an “adverse effect”.
Dr Lewis said the NSW Environment Protection Authority had expressed concerns about air quality modelling on which the proposal was based and that it was clear “there would be more days with higher levels of particles”.
“Therefore any increase in exposure must be assumed to have an adverse impact, even at levels below the assessment criteria,” Dr Lewis wrote.
Health experts are not the only ones concerned about possible air quality issues if the recycling facility is allowed go proceed.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Delta Laboratories managing director Gary Leach said he and his staff were “extremely concerned” about possible fine dust particles from crushing of concrete.
Mr Leach’s submission said the company employed more than 100 staff and had been operating in the area for almost 20 years.
Mr Leach said his business had strict guidelines about air quality which could be threatened by the new development.
Delta has recently purchased land in Gindurra Road not far from the proposed site for a planned expansion.
“In addition to the extra filtration we anticipate needing to account for, the staff that are to move to this site are concerned about the proposed concrete dust creating site,” he said,
“A facility such as this should not be located so close to such a populated area.”
The air quality assessment for the development was carried out by Northstar Air Quality and compares expected particle air pollution with national standards for ambient air quality and with NSW EPA guidelines.
The EPA has also made a submission which calls on the applicant to revise its air quality assessment because the meteorological data and modelling were “inadequate”.
Backstory
The proposed Kariong Sand and Soil Recycling Facility has been earmarked as a State Significant Development by Planning NSW because of its potential to help the government reach it’s target of recycling 80% of construction and demolition waste by 2021.
The expansion of the existing facility is expected to produce 11 jobs and inject almost $74 million into the Central Coast economy over the next 20 years.
Plans for the proposal went on public exhibition at the start of February this year.
The plant would be located on a large block at 90 Gindurra Road within Somersby Industrial park and just behind Kariong Correctional Centre.
The facility would process a variety of waste products including soil (50 per cent) concrete, tiles and masonry (23 per cent) asphalt (10 per cent) timber, stumps, rootballs (10 per cent) and some mixed building waste which would otherwise have ended up in landfill.
A quarter of the waste for processing would come from Sydney with the rest from the Central Coast. Everything that is produced will be used locally — but there will be no direct sales to the public.
The plans indicate up to 164 vehicle movements per day by 2025 (a maximum of 21 trips per hour) including 40 tonne B-doubles, 32 tonne trucks and 12 tonne trucks as well as operation vehicles on site.
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