The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd a Clean-Up Notice to reduce the levels of leachate stored in dams at the Woodlawn Landfill within the Eco Precinct in Tarago.
The landfill's dams store leachate, or wastewater, that is generated from its landfill operations. Some of these leachate dams are reaching storage capacity increasing the potential risk of an offsite overflow event.
NSW EPA Acting Executive Director of Operations, Adam Gilligan said that it was critical Veolia take urgent action to reduce their leachate dam levels to prevent a potential risk of pollution into nearby creeks and the community.
"Maintaining adequate storage capacity ensures dam integrity and prevents uncontrolled discharges of polluted water which can cause serious environmental impacts that can be difficult and costly to clean up," said Mr Gilligan.
"It is important that Veolia takes immediate action to reduce their levels of leachate stored at the site to ensure they do not breach their license and cause an offsite overflow.
"We have directed Veolia to take a number of immediate actions including transporting quantities of leachate to a lawful facility, installing storage tanks and investigating leachate-reduction technology.
"We will monitor their actions closely to ensure they are implemented and to manage the potential risk of overflow into the environment."
The installation of storage tanks was proposed by Veolia and is included as a notice direction to expedite their installation.
The remaining directions have been initiated by the EPA to provide additional safeguards until storage capacity returns to safe levels.
