By Benjamin Millar
Western suburb councils have slammed the state environmental watchdog’s decision to give the green light for toxic West Gate Tunnel soil to be treated in Ravenhall.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) announced on Friday it had approved an Environment Management Plan (EMP) for Cleanaway’s Spoil Management and Reuse Facility to accept and process soil contaminated with PFAS and asbestos.
The approval is the second granted to the site after EPA revoked an earlier approval amid concerns it may not have been granted legally.
It follows recent reapprovals for dumping at Maddingley Brown Coal in in Bacchus Marsh and the Hi Quality site in Bulla.
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The Andrews government is being sued by a group of residents and a council in Melbourneâs west over plans to dump soil contaminated with potentially carcinogenic PFAS chemicals from the West Gate Tunnel in landfills located close to homes.
Maddingley Brown Coal landfill in Bacchus Marsh was one of the sites approved to take soil from the West Gate Tunnel.
Credit:Luis Ascui
Documents lodged in the Supreme Court on Thursday show the Moorabool community group has requested a judicial review of Planning Minister Richard Wynneâs decision to amend the Moorabool Planning Scheme, which would allow potentially millions of tonnes of PFAS-contaminated soil to be dumped at the Maddingley Brown Coal landfill in Bacchus Marsh.