Community concern grows over proposed waste-to-energy incinerator

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About an hour from Canberra, a proposal to build one of Australia’s first waste-to-energy incinerators has triggered growing community concern. The technology is now being examined before a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry with residents near Tarago seeking clearer answers about the proposal's health and environmental risks. They are concerned about the effects the project could have on air quality, food production, the environment and water, among other health risks.

Transcript

00:00Five generations have farmed this land in regional New South Wales.

00:06But just beyond the rolling hills lies the end point for much of Sydney's waste.

00:11It feels to us that this is the simple solution is to send it out of mind.

00:15Every day, tonnes of Sydney's household rubbish arrives near Tarrago

00:19to be buried in an old mine site run by waste company Veolia.

00:23Now the company wants to build an incinerator that would turn some of that waste into electricity,

00:28enough to power about 40,000 homes.

00:31Veolia says the technology is better than landfill for emissions and environmental performance

00:36and its modelling found no discernible impacts on soil, rainwater tanks and waterways.

00:42Plants like these are banned across most of New South Wales

00:45except in four regional areas including near Tarrago.

00:48And the state government is taking a cautious approach

00:51to putting these facilities in high population areas.

00:54We feel like we're being treated as second class citizens.

00:57So it wasn't safe for Sydney and all of a sudden it comes out here and it's safe.

01:02The facility was first proposed in 2021 and has faced widespread opposition ever since.

01:08They are concerned that even low level emissions of toxins

01:13that you're exposed to continuously for 20 years will have health risks involved.

01:19Studies have linked older waste incinerators to cancers and reproductive issues

01:24and one expert says it's too early to tell if the newer technology is any safer.

01:29I don't think that new incinerators under the newer, stricter regulations

01:35have been operating for long enough to be able to say yet that they are more safe

01:40than the previous generations of incinerators.

01:43And there are concerns the effects won't just be felt by nearby residents.

01:47I think it's very important for people in Canberra to really understand what's going on

01:52in their local region outside the ACT borders.

01:55Local residents say trust in the company is low.

01:58Since 2023, Veolia's been fined a total of $90,000 for environmental breaches

02:04at its existing landfill site.

02:06In a statement to the ABC, the company says it's responded promptly

02:10and transparently to past issues and would continuously monitor

02:13and publicly report air quality data if a waste-to-energy facility is approved.

02:19Five generations have looked after this land already

02:21and if our children would like to, we'd like them to be able

02:25to have the option to be the sixth.

02:27A burning fight to protect land, water and air.

02:34EULT

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Community concern grows over proposed waste-to-energy incinerator

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