❓ A parliamentary question regarding hazardous waste disposal at Brookdale and a commitment made by the Minister to provide a closure date for the facility. The Minister's response details actions taken since becoming aware of the issue and addresses the commitment.
AnsweredQoN 436Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) When precisely was the minister made aware that hazardous waste was being taken to Brookdale without the necessary approvals? (2) Did the minister give a personal commitment to community members, including the residents of Brookdale and Forrestdale, in her office on 21 January that she would provide a definitive date for the closure of Brookdale and that she would do that within a month of that meeting? Dr J.M. EDWARDS
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
(2) Did the minister give a personal commitment to community members, including the residents of Brookdale and Forrestdale, in her office on 21 January that she would provide a definitive date for the closure of Brookdale and that she would do that within a month of that meeting? Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: (1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: (1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
(1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
(2) Did the minister give a personal commitment to community members, including the residents of Brookdale and Forrestdale, in her office on 21 January that she would provide a definitive date for the closure of Brookdale and that she would do that within a month of that meeting? Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: (1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: (1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
(1)-(2) I am at a loss to see how these questions are related but I will answer them. I was first informed that hazardous waste was going to Brookdale outside its approvals in March 2001. It is interesting to compare and contrast that with what I then did. I did not just accept the Environmental Protection Authority’s advice, as the previous minister told us she did. In fact, I called a joint meeting of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection and said to them that it was not good enough that I did not know about it. From my point of view, the problem came to light only because the fire wash water from the Bellevue fire - another environmental debt left by the previous Government - brought it to light. I therefore called in the EPA and the DEP in their role as Waste Management (WA) - another conflict of interest we inherited from the previous Government - and said that it was not good enough and that there must be alternative solutions to the problem. Initially I was told that it could not be done but I asked them to go away and look at it again. A few months later the EPA and the DEP came back to me and said that there were alternatives. By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
By December 2001 I announced a plan that we implemented in a measured way to stop hazardous waste going to that facility for the following six months. We initially stopped dry-cleaning wastes going there and a month later we stopped polychlorinated biphenyls going there. That plan was rolled out and we engaged members of the community at the same time and took them on site as we conducted audits. Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
Yes, on 21 January I met with local residents from Brookdale and yes, I gave a commitment that I would come back with a definitive date. However, I also said that the impact of a definitive date would result in other communities receiving waste that currently goes to Brookdale. Members may be aware that four different streams of waste go to Brookdale. In that time I have had to satisfy myself that there were places in the State that had the capacity to take hazardous waste and would not manage it in the way it was managed by Waste Control Pty Ltd at the Bellevue site. Do members recall the fire there? I have now been reassured that the licences held by other facilities in the metropolitan area and regional Western Australia are way ahead of the volumes of waste likely to be generated. I also wanted to make sure that the communities were consulted and, in addition, that we would work more closely with waste management operators themselves. Ten days ago I was finally able to arrange a meeting with all the waste management operators and I went through with them their need to be more open and to better engage the communities about what they are doing. In the past week I also called in the local government authorities - although I had difficulty getting these meetings organised - so that they would know what we are doing. I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
I look forward to giving a definitive date towards the end of the week.
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