By Angus Dalton
Concerns that laboratory mice could turn cannibalistic formed part of a massive community-led campaign that has led to the Independent Planning Commission’s rejection of a proposed plastic recycling plant next to a crucial medical research facility in the Southern Highlands.
Moss Vale residents have waged a four-year war against the Plasrefine plant based on concerns about microplastics leaching into the nearby Wingecarribee River, the risk of fire and the plant’s proximity to homes, a childcare centre and the research facility.
Hundreds of locals in Moss Vale mounted a four-year effort to stop the Plasrefine project, which was recommended for approval in October by the NSW government.Credit: James Brickwood
The NSW government green-lit the $88 million project – which would have been Australia’s largest plastic recycling plant – three months ago.
Australian BioResources (ABR) breeds and houses 750 different genetically modified mouse colonies, many of which are only produced at their Moss Vale facility. The mice underpin research into cancer, mental illness, heart disease and diabetes.
The Plasrefine plant’s construction site would have come within 62 metres of current buildings and less than 50 metres from a proposed new mouse accommodation building.
Director of animal facilities at the Garvan Institute, which operates ABR, Dr Jennifer Kingham, flagged in the institute’s submission to the IPC that vibration and noise from construction can trigger mice to cannibalise their young.
(Below) A mock-up of the proposed design as viewed from ABR.Credit: GHD
“The issue with noise and vibration on mice is that they either stop breeding or eat their offspring – which is not a good outcome from an animal welfare perspective and would have a significant impact to the state and nationally,” NSW Health’s director of enterprise, international partnerships and clinical trials Anne O’Neill confirmed to the government in December.
Kingham also wrote that previous construction near the facility had interrupted micro-injections of mouse embryos as they moved under the microscope, resulting in a 25 per cent loss of viable embryos.
“They’re specialist mice that need to be completely free of any contamination,” Ursula O’Dwyer, a Moss Vale resident long involved in the campaign against Plasrefine, said.
“The community felt, by that merit alone, the government would not be recommending the project for approval. But they did.”
The proposed plant was a four-storey, 7.7 hectare site capable of processing 120,000 tonnes of plastic each year. NSW has a goal of tripling plastic recycling by 2030.
A map showing the Australian BioResources facility and its proximity to the proposed Plasrefine site.
The goal was set after China banned the importation of mixed waste plastic for recycling or disposal in 2017, leaving countries including in Australia in the lurch.
“NSW does need more capacity to recycle plastic waste and the commission is conscious of government targets around this issue,” commission chair Andrew Mills said last week.
“However, ensuring that the site for such facilities is appropriate also needs to be carefully considered.”
In more than 2800 submissions made during the planning process, residents cited research into the health risks of microplastic exposure and concerns about the plant contributing to PFAS contamination in Sydney’s water catchment.
Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman has called for an inquiry into the Department of Planning’s decision to recommend Plasrefine for approval.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Billionaire Annie Cannon-Brookes, who owns farmland in the area, engaged risk expert David Hayden Collins of Synergetic Consulting Engineers for her submission. Collins estimated there was a 30 per cent chance of a major fire at the plant over its 30-year lifespan.
Garvan said in its submission the ABR’s ventilation systems were not built to protect its mice against a nearby industrial fire and such an event would cause a “a high mortality rate” of their animals within 24-48 hours.
In its rejection, the IPC focused on the risk of noise and vibration during the 15-month construction phase and continuing 24-hour disturbance to residents and the ABR mice breeding facility during the plant’s operation.
The reasons for rejection also included impacts of truck traffic and “excessive” visual impacts of the bulky building. The commission also pointed to unacceptable risk posed by a potential fire to the research facility.
In presentations made by GHD, the Australian consultants engaged by Beijing-based Plasrefine, it said there was no risk to the health of Moss Vale residents, no wastewater would be discharged into nearby waterways and that no breaches of EPA air quality criteria would be caused by the plant at nearby houses or the ABR. GHD declined to comment when asked if it would appeal the IPC decision.
Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman said she would be calling for an inquiry into how the government found the site approvable, a call backed by O’Dwyer.
“We are feeling so vindicated – ecstatic, but also very tired,” O’Dwyer said. “There is significant trauma and anger that the community had to perform the due diligence that the government was responsible for but clearly unable to do,” O’Dwyer said.
The DPHI said it had conducted a rigorous assessment of the proposal before recommending the plant to the IPC, but respected the commission’s rejection.
The Garvan Institute was contacted for comment.
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