Ardlethan Environmental Solutions responds to community concerns over proposed landfill

Ardlethan Environmental Solutions (AES), a division of, Australian Tin Resources (ATR), plan to develop a solid waste landfill at Ardlethan which will initially accept about 200,000 tonnes of Sydney waste to be delivered by rail.

Peter Francis from ATR said the amount of waste could grow to 400,000 tonnes per year over time.

“We will also accept regional waste delivered by road if there is a demand, but this is not likely to exceed 5000 tonnes per year,” Mr Francis said.

“Ardlethan will receive a benefit from hosting fees paid to Coolamon Shire Council which will be ploughed back into the community, as well as from jobs and other economic activity that the project will generate.”

The Yithan Landfill proposal had attracted fierce opposition from the community, with a meeting in June attracting 170 concerned local and district families as well as representatives from Griffith city and Narrandera, Bland and Coolamon shire councils.

The opponents voiced their concerns over noise, smell, and environmental contamination.

Tony Donoghue, general manager of Coolamon Shire Council, said they were yet to adopt a position on the Yithan Landfill proposal.

“To date no development application has been submitted, therefore without all the details being available council will wait to make an appropriate assessment,” Mr Donoghue said.

Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi attended the meeting and commented on how the proposal had again arisen, following the defeat of a similar proposal 18 years ago.

Councillor Dal Broi confirmed Griffith Shire Council would stand with the Ardlethan community in fighting against the proposal, saying there was no doubt that the community of Ardlethan did not want the dump to go ahead.

Griffith councillor Leon Thorpe was also at the meeting and noted it was important for Griffith to consider the groundwater effect of the rubbish.

Griffith City Council is understood to be planning a community meeting about the proposal, with councillors requesting experts on groundwater, biosecurity and phylloxera to be present.

Mr Francis said ATR could be completely confident that there would be no leakage to groundwater. “A condition of the requirements for the project is that we are able to demonstrate there will be no risk to groundwater in the area as a result of the landfilling operations. We are totally confident of being able to do so,” Mr Francis said.

“ATR has engaged experienced consulting engineers to report on this and other hydrogeological matters for inclusion in the environmental impact statement.

“There is a very large body of knowledge relation to the geology and hydrogeology of the region and you can be completely confident that there is no way the landfill project will have a negative groundwater impact.”

In a report on the earlier landfill proposal, Kevin Cleland found there was little likelihood of the (Ardlethan) landfill operations having a significant effect on the groundwater due  to the limited and low quality groundwater in the locality and the impervious nature of the soils and granite.

Member for Murray Adrian Piccoli weighed in on the debate saying the proposal is not something he would be supporting.

“The overwhelming feedback that I have received from the Griffith community in particular is that this proposal brings with it risks that are unacceptable,” Mr Piccoli said.

“Contamination of the soil and ground water supplies are at the forefront of these concerns.

“The proposal is currently listed as a major project by the Department of Planning, and it is currently in its infancy. There is no call for public submissions at this point.

“I have however, detailed my concerns to the Minister for Planning and have also passed on the concerns that have come to my office in writing and will continue to do so.”