Item Discussion Action By

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1 MEETING NOTES (APPROVED 13/03/2014) Thursday, 12 December 2013 at 6:30pm Lucas Heights RRP New Illawarra Rd, Lucas Heights Chair Gareth Jones Note Taker Gareth Jones ATTENDEES SITA Australia (AK) Sydney Landfills Manager (KR) New Illawarra Rd Landfill Manager (PH) Sydney Resource Recovery Manager (AP) Compliance Officer (GJ) NSW Stakeholder Engagement Manager Apologies (PK) SITA Australia (JoR) Community (DE) Community (GS) Sutherland Shire Council Community (JR) Menai (NG) Illawong (IK) Oyster Bay (GP) Barden Ridge Government (MG) State Member for Menai ANSTO (GM) RECORD OF DISCUSSIONS 1. WELCOME AND AGENDA 1.1 GJ welcomed all attendees to the meeting. Apologies were noted as listed above. 1.2 AP introduced himself as the site s new Compliance Officer. He has been with SITA for about 3 months, and has been stationed at Lucas Heights for about 1 month. AP replaced the previous Compliance Officer, NL, who has been promoted to a supervisor position at SITA Organics Camden ORRF. 1.3 GP explained that he had previously been involved with the PCYC Mini- Bike Club, but was now attending as a resident. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF NOTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING 2.1 Minutes from the previous meeting were accepted without amendment. PAGE 1 OF 6

2 3. OPERATIONS UPDATE 3.1 PH reported that recent dry weather had meant reduced tonnes entering the organics facility, due to slower growth of vegetation. Dry weather also helps with odour control, since dam levels were kept low. Apart from that, operations were proceeding as usual. 3.2 KR reported that contractors had finished the liner works in the new cell, which had been seen in the site tour at the September meeting. Landfilling had now commenced in that area. The deep dig excavation was continuing, but work would slow down over Christmas. 3.3 KR noted that monthly environment, quality and safety meetings were being held with contractors, and all contractors used accredited ISO14001 & ISO9001 safety management systems. 3.4 KR added that the PCYC mini-bike club was now closed over summer, as it was too hot for events, but activities would resume on Sunday 3 March. 3.5 KR reported that 22 new gas extraction wells had been completed, and gas capture operations were proceeding as usual. 3.6 KR added that approximately 6,000 trees had been recently donated from the on-site nursery to local community groups. 3.7 IK asked how many staff were normally on site each day. KR replied that SITA only had a small team, being mostly in the office or the weighbridge, while the rest of the staff on site were contractors. 4 contractors were normally on site, with each contractor having staff. When excavations were underway, the on-site workforce would increase. Liner construction is carried out by specialist teams. The Organics platform has 12 full-time staff. Up to staff in total could be on site at any time. 3 rd party auditing was also conducted on workmanship and quality, with a full quality assurance report sent to the EPA after major works like liner construction. AK added that waste could not be deposited into a new cell until it had been approved by the EPA. One contractor takes care of waste placement (filling); another undertakes excavation & crushing; another operates the Leachate Treatment Plant; a specialist team carries out blasting during excavations; Energy Developments Limited were responsible for maintaining the gas field and operating the engines; and a number of consultants also worked on quality control during construction of cells and other infrastructure. Landfill operations are very highly regulated. KR said that this applied to all of SITA s landfills throughout NSW, with all sites having to meet specific EPA criteria. Some work was normally done in-house then sent to a design consultant to be written up into a formal submission for the EPA, who would then issue approval to proceed. A second report would then be submitted to the EPA at completion of work. AK noted that the most recently constructed cell has the highest standard of lining ever used on the Lucas Heights site. The cell had been designed PAGE 2 OF 6

3 and constructed with a double liner (900mm clay & 2mm HDPE plastic) this method had never been used on the site in the past, but is the current best practice technique for municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, and was now standard practice on all of SITA s MSW landfills. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE 4.1 AP presented the Environmental Update as attached. 1 odour complaint had been received in October, zero in November, and 1 in December. The whole year had seen fewer odour complaints compared to previous years for every month except April. 4.2 AK added that all leachate dams were now aerated for better oxygenation. 4.3 KR noted that 2 new groundwater monitoring bores had been installed in areas not previously monitored. Two old bores had stopped working, and these had also been replaced. The new bores were located in the northeast corner of the site, uphill from the creek. AK added that these new bores had been recommended by a Suez Environnement team who had visited from France, and had been installed so that SITA could monitor any groundwater which might enter the site from other nearby closed industrial and waste facilities. 4.4 JR said that odours had been less strong and frequent in late 2012, but had become much worse in January and February of JR asked if stronger or more frequent odours could be expected in Jan-Feb PH replied that late 2011 and early 2012 was a period of very heavy rain, and this type of weather tends to create more odours on organics sites. The last 2 years had seen exceptionally high rainfall, but if a return to normal weather patterns came about it should mean a much drier year in This should then lead to a much lower number of complaints. AK added that high rainfall also had an impact on landfill operations, which SITA always tried to minimise. AK also noted that during January and February 2012 there was also some construction taking place on the golf course at Barden Ridge, and the use of turkey manure in this operation also contributed to localised odours. KR said that the new gas wells installed recently should also help with odours, and that about $2m over the last two years had been spent on upgrading gas extraction infrastructure. JR reported that she used to notice odours which were approximately a 50/50 ratio of gas/rubbish odours; now she occasionally noticed a gas odour but mostly only noticed rubbish odours. During summer it was normally more difficult to avoid odours, since it was preferable to leave windows open at night. AK added that temperature inversions in summer also often trapped odours close to the ground. PAGE 3 OF 6

4 5. DEVELOPMENTS UPDATE 5.1 AK reported that ongoing discussions had been taking place with Sutherland Shire Council and ANSTO regarding the future finished landform at Lucas Heights. These had been progressing well but no final agreements had been reached at this stage. The CRG will be kept informed of the progress of these discussions. 5.2 GP asked what proposals were underway. AK replied that SITA were considering changing the slope of the landfill surface in order to meet the minimum 5% gradient requirement set by the original EIS. This would mean an increase in height of the landfill ridgeline. KR added that the height increase would take place mainly on the flanks of the landfill, as certain areas had settled and were now too flat for effective runoff. The modification would also provide an opportunity to improve capping to minimise infiltration. 6. LUCAS HEIGHTS I UPDATE 6.1 GJ reported that GS had sent a written update to be delivered in his absence. A summary of GS s update is below. 6.2 Site Maintenance Contract Council has extended the contract for the maintenance of the site for an additional 3 years with the current contractor, Programmed Turnpoint. 6.3 Golf Course Additional drainage to the fairways has been completed. The short roughs have been change from Ryegrass to Couch and the grow-in should be completed by mid-february Athletic Field The new shade structure has been completed. 6.5 Dam Level Currently the Dam is at 80% capacity. 6.6 BMX Track The final design has been lodged for DA with the Department of Planning. When approved, GS would provide a copy of the plans. PAGE 4 OF 6

5 6.7 Cronulla Model Aero Club Council's Sport and Recreation Section have advised that there is currently no land under Council's control available to accommodate the club's activities. 6.8 MG reported that she had also been looking into the possibility of finding land for the Cronulla Model Aero Club, but that this had proven very difficult because of the conditions required, for example the prevailing wind direction, distance from roads, etc., especially with the nearby proposed Gandangara development. 7. ACTIONS OUTSTANDING 7.1 No actions were outstanding from previous meetings. 8. OTHER BUSINESS 8.1 Dates were announced for meetings in 2014: Thursday 13 March Thursday 12 June Saturday 13 September (including site tour; 9am start) Thursday 11 December It was suggested that meetings be held earlier in the day. The March meeting would start at 5:30pm as a trial of an earlier time, and the time of remaining meetings in 2014 would be set based on attendance at the March meeting and feedback received from members. 8.2 GP reported that he had noticed signs in the neighbourhood advertising leaf mulch delivered free of charge, and asked if there was currently a glut on the market. AK replied that this was likely to be the work of tree pruning companies which were trying to find ways to dispose of garden organics while avoiding tipping fees. MEETING CLOSED 7:15PM Next meeting Venue Thursday 13 March 2014, 5:30pm Club Central Menai PAGE 5 OF 6

6 ACTIONS OUTSTANDING Item Issue Action By No actions were outstanding from previous meetings. No new actions were raised in this meeting. Appendices 1) Environment Update presented by AP. PAGE 6 OF 6