Download Come on in, the water`s … fine?

10 Jan 2016
Sunday Age, Melbourne
Author: Benjamin Millar • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Classification : Capital City Daily • Audience : 147,017 • Page: 1
Printed Size: 905.00cm² • Market: VIC • Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 60,508
Words: 607 • Item ID: 523128020
Copyright Agency licensed copy (www.copyright.com.au)
Page 1 of 2
Oscar, 7, Sophie, 11, and Harry, 9,
enjoy a swim in the Yarra at
Warrandyte’s Pound Bend Reserve.
Photo: Luis Ascui
Come on in, the water’s … fine?
Parks Victoria dumps toxic waste near popular Yarra swimming spot.
NEWS PAGE 3
Parks Victoria’s toxic Yarra secret
Benjamin Millar
Toxic chemical waste has been
washed into the Yarra River at Warrandyte by Parks Victoria staff, killing trees and creating a ‘‘public
health risk’’ near a popular Melbourne swimming spot.
According to a confidential internal report on Parks Victoria operations, a toxic cocktail of chemicals
and herbicides has flowed into the
Yarra from a ‘‘wash-down facility’’
near Pound Bend, a popular spot for
swimming, fishing and canoeing inside Warrandyte State Park.
An incident and hazard summary
report, dated October 29, reveals the
concrete site is used to ‘‘pressurewash vehicles, triple rinse chemical
containers and mix herbicides for
use in the park’’. But the area drains
directly into the Yarra, and the report states that chemical waste from
the depot’s wash-down area has already killed a number of trees before
entering the river.
Concerns were also raised about
workers being exposed to the waste.
The report, released to the opposition under freedom of information
legislation, noted contaminated water is washed into three separate pits
that are ‘‘not designed to filter or
store contaminated waste’’.
‘‘The waste is manually removed,
exposing the operator to unknown
chemicals,’’ states the hazard report.
The issue was recorded as far
back as April 29 last year, when con-
taminated water was found to be
draining into the Yarra River.
The report noted the wash bay
fails to meet legal requirements and
‘‘if the EPA [Environment Protection
Authority] was informed, PV would
face serious fines’’. Parks Victoria
decided not to alert the EPA to the
findings.
EPA acting chief executive Damian Wells said the agency was first
tipped off to the issue on Friday via
its pollution hotline. ‘‘We have had an
officer out to inspect the site,’’ he
said. ‘‘They have taken some soil and
water samples and will be undertaking our normal investigative pro-
10 Jan 2016
Sunday Age, Melbourne
Author: Benjamin Millar • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Classification : Capital City Daily • Audience : 147,017 • Page: 1
Printed Size: 905.00cm² • Market: VIC • Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 60,508
Words: 607 • Item ID: 523128020
Copyright Agency licensed copy (www.copyright.com.au)
cess.’’
Mr Wells said Parks Victoria was
obliged to meet the same requirements under the Environment Protection Act as any private business.
‘‘Wastewater must be retained on
the site and our investigation will
look at whether there have been any
breaches of that requirement,’’ he
said. ‘‘We may require a clean-up of
the site and changes to the practices
on the site.’’
A Parks Victoria spokesman said
the authority will work together with
the EPA to fix the issue.
He said wash bay upgrades are
being scheduled after staff raised a
potential safety issue with run-off.
‘‘Local staff implemented immediate control measures to minimise
any OHS risks associated with the
wash bay,’’ he said.
‘‘Staff ceased washing down tanks
and an inductor truck now comes in
to remove and dispose of sediment
appropriately. The use of the trucks
also limits the run-off.’’
He said the cause of damage to the
trees is yet to be determined.
Opposition environment spokesman Brad Battin said that the state
government needs to order a full investigation into the ‘‘environmental
vandalism’’.
‘‘These are shocking revelations
of the Yarra being poisoned in a
secret government report which
Daniel Andrews has tried to bury.’’
But a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Lisa Neville sheeted
blame to the opposition, saying the
minister and her office were only
made aware of the issue when contacted by the media.
‘‘The previous government gutted
Parks Victoria, they lost one in 10 of
their staff and 10 per cent of their
budget, which left our parks and
$1.8 billion in portfolio assets at risk,’’
she said.
Page 2 of 2
Yarra River
Warrandyte
Parks
Victoria
depot
Melbourne
N
Pound
Bend
Warrandyte
400M