Following on from the failed attempt by Jerrara Power to bring Sydney's waste into our Local Government Area, we still have another Sydney waste issue, apart from the one at Tarago.
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Global Quarries Australia Pty Ltd are currently developing their Environmental Impact Statement for a hard rock quarry on Winfarthing Road, Marulan.
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As part of their state significant development, they plan to have their 42.5 tonne trucks take the aggregate to Sydney and then bring back truckloads of Extracted Natural Materials (ENM), which is classified as waste by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority.
They also want to bring in 'clean fill" to make internal roads. The EPA has no designation for this waste and it is therefore unregulated and could contain anything.
The ENM can contain up to 0.1 per cent, by weight, of rubber, plastic, bitumen, cloth, paper, paint and wood (EPA regulations). Although this doesn't sound like much, when millions of tonnes of this waste are stockpiled, the cumulative total can be 60,000 plus tonnes and it will be dumped beside the Hume Motorway and adjacent to Narambulla Creek.
Although Global Quarries has failed to give us any figures, if they intend to extract some six million tonnes by quarrying an 80-metre high hill, then we assume to rebuild this hill they will need at least the same amount of fill. This equates to 16 Olympic swimming pools of plastic, rubber, bitumen, cloth, paper paint and wood being dumped. Narambulla Creek is in the Sydney Water catchment area and flows into the Wollondilly River.
The chemical composition of ENM can contain mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, Benzo(a)pyrene, Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl-benzene and Xylene. (EPA regulations) The potential effects on human health from these chemicals include eye and nose irritation, headaches, respiratory issues, brain damage, neurological effects, cancers and kidney and liver damage.
Although the ENM is supposedly controlled by regulations the proposal to use this unregulated "clean fill" to form unsealed internal roads leaves it open to bring in all sorts of rubbish.
The dust from the proposed quarry will be washed into our tank water supplies, meaning we will both inhale and ingest any chemicals that are in the dust.
What short and long-term effect will this have on our health as well as that of the native flora and fauna, especially the 30 plus endangered and vulnerable ones?
The mayor, in his comments about the Jerrara Power project, acknowledged the "emotional toll" that the Bungonia district residents had endured over the last six months and that they can now rest easy. We have been battling with this quarry proposal for over two and a half years, (as well as the Jerrara Power issue which is also in our local area) and the cumulative effects have been enormous. The end is not yet in sight.
We need Goulburn Mulwaree Council to continue to fight against our LGA becoming a dumping ground for all of Sydney's waste, not just one part of it. If this dumping of waste at the proposed quarry is approved it will open the door for many more millions of tonnes to be dumped throughout our region.
Graeme Dally, President, Neighbours of Winfarthing Inc.
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