Woodlawn Advanced Energy Recovery Centre

Today in Gundaroo we can already smell the sulphuric odour of decaying waste in the right wind conditions. This project jeopardises the integrity of our farmland, our health and our land values.
The organic methods we apply to raising our sheep are a wasted effort when toxins contaminate the soil that they graze on. Why should so many endure the fallout of a expanded facility for so little gain to the area in terms of jobs?
Once again this is big business putting profits before community health and safety.

Reason: likely environmental impacts of the proposal, a proposal which is the first of it's kind. Air pollution, fly ash and pollution in food and water for local population and housing community.

I have grown up on a family farm in close proximity to the proposed site. My family still operates this farm. I am concerned about the impact on livestock, wool, crops, etc. The immediate and long term environmental impact is untested (again, this is a first of its kind proposal).

I also live in Sydney, and the start of the Sydney water catchment is Goulburn and its surrounds. I'm therefore impacted by the water quality risks, as are the other 5 million people that live in Sydney. Sydney is sending it's rubbish to Goulburn / Targo for it to then have it returned in its drinking water. The irony.

Presumably the proposal is to have the incinerator built in an area which does not have a dense population due to the risk it poses on people's health, otherwise the State government wouldn't be spending a fortune sending the rubbish to Tarago in the first place. You're valuing the life of one community over another.

One of the most important things in life is having a clean environment in which to live and one of the most attractive reasons to live in the Canberra region is having clean air. This plant is a direct threat to clean air in this district and a threat to my children that will be growing up with additional pollution in the air. This is my first objection.

Given the current need to reduce atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases creating additional sources of atmospheric pollution is not only irresponsible but verging on criminal. Our society is based largely on fossil fuels and it is important that new developments don't perpetuate this state of affairs. Burning waste is a solution from a past century and has no place in this one. This is my second objection.

This plant is an anachronism - do not build it.

Please find attached submission.

The incinerator is poised to significantly impact to the future profitability of private business and property within the region. The incinerator, should it go ahead, will runs the risk of driving down property prices, impacting tourism and thus impacting the burgeoning local business surrounding the area. Furthermore, the scientific evidence provided in support of the incinerator has provided little surety to local citizens and government, with local council's own lack of support telling.
This incinerator does not represent best-practice for either Veolia or the NSW State Government in growing a sustainable economy in rural NSW, nor does it it represent best-practice from either party in meeting the challenges of a changing climate.

Veolia admitted to their landfill site at Tarago contaminating the ground water and they want the approval to built an incinerator.
Just because the graph shows safe levels of pollutants doesnt mean that it is. How can it be when other incinerator plants around the world are being shut down. They are harmful to the environment, agriculture and the health of humanity. Do the right thing and say NO to this
project. My relatives drink the tank water eat their produce which is going to be contaminated. They moved to Tarago for fresh air and a healthy environment. If this incinerator is so safe why not built it closer to the source of the rubbish which is Sydney. Safe the carbon footprint of a 3hr train trip what if there was a derailment. You must say NO to this project.

My daughter and her partner have recently purchased land in the area about 6 km away from the proposed site. They plan to build a home and start a family in the next few years. Given that they have to rely on rain tank water for there water. I have real concerns about the toxins that would end up in the water tanks. Which could affect them, their children and animals that will be living on the property. There is concerns about cancer, miscarriage and others due to the toxins that would be admitted.
We have a right in this country to be protected from this sort of thing, we shouldn't be going backwards.
I want to protect my daughter and her near future family.

We bought our property out here 25 years ago so that we could breathe fresh country air. Ever since Veolia has operated their current facility there are days of a putrid rotten smell. I don’t want toxic ash as well! I don’t want to worry that my homegrown fruit and veges, tank water, chooks, pets, wildlife and the air where I live are contaminated and how it will affect my family’s health and lifestyle (as well as that of our local community). Sydney - take care of your own damn rubbish, I don’t want any more of it here! I say NO!

I am strongly against the project because whilst it appears to be an “easy” green alternative, it will be emitting pollutes and toxins that will be harmful to local air quality and impact on local life.

It’s disappointing that NSW government would even consider inducing such a damaging “solution” into the beautiful landscape of Goulburn Mulwaree. Australia should be leading the way for newer, greener and safer initiatives.

I believe that if this project goes ahead it will ruin the town of Tarago and the lives of those who live in and around it. It is a beautiful place to visit and the whole place will be ruined and the health of the residents who live there will be dramatically effected. This project should not go ahead, especially if the people making the decisions wouldn’t live near it themselves which I imagine they would be against it on their door step.

My sons family has property very close to the proposed site.
That means my son, his partner, the kids will be affected.
The smell.
Their tank water
Their grown veges
There land in general.
Property prices will lower.
How on earth is this beneficial for any town.
Do these things not in a town away from houses and rural properties. It's insane. It won't just affect the town I'd say it could affect even further then the town. Winds , rivers spreading contaminated stuff in the air around.
And what about people with breathing problems like asthma.
No there shouldn't be one near/in the town. No where near it.
I vote a hard NO.
Thank you.

I am object this project, as the Environmental Impact of this project alone and if it were to go ahead it can decrease the value in the property pricing for this area.

To whom this concerns (seriously, you need to really be concerned!),

Waste-to-Energy Incinerators have been tried and tested in many applications, predominantly across Northern Europe nd Japan. The Amager Bakke facility in Denmark is a perfect example of this concept come to life, solving the ever growing waste management crisis. Keeping their furnace at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius, the technology used to turn water produced by this process into steam, and with the installation of specialty made filters to capture and halt poisonous gases such as nitrogen dioxide into the air, the steam can safely be used as a source of energy, producing enough electricity to power and heat 100,000 homes.
It seems to most people who live in Contemporary society such as Denmark strive to be progressive, want infrastructure and manufacturing to be technologically and scientifically innovated, at no cost to the environment; we as people especially in small rural towns want local industry to be transparent about their management practices. Is this too much to ask for? Why makes Australia lagging behind? Could it be corporate greed; major companies that monopolise the market? A lack of government incentive to invest time, energy, and resources into companies that are passionate about environmental sustainability and the reversal of climate change? Where is the NSW government now? Why aren’t their voices shouting in unison with ours, as we will battle to be heard above the continual sound of dump trucks that will ferry detritus from Sydney to the Goulburn Mulwaree region, roughly 247km away, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; above the stink that will linger in the air for the next 30 years?

But, you know, who cares: “Out of sight, out of mind”, right? Who really cares if some country hippies are causing a stink about a facility that’ll be helping get rid of Sydney’s rubbish! Yeah, the toxic plume will be worth it: it’ll produce 30MW of electricity (as opposed to a coal fired station producing the same amount of toxic emissions produces 870,000MW)! Wow! Well done Veolia.

Veolia and this proposal to build a waste-to-energy facility at their Woodlawn Bioreactor landfill site in the Goulburn Mulwaree region are both abhorrent. That this is the best solution put forth to deal with Sydney’s waste management is laughable, because to conceive of it being more than just a joke is really frightening. They obviously have no regard for how this impacts local rural development, and industry such as tourism and agriculture, but they will be denying the residence within a 100km radius as far as Goulburn and Canberra, the pleasure of breathing fresh air, drinking clean water and eating locally grown food products, living a healthy, long life, as the output from this incinerator will be literally ingrained into bodies, and our DNA.

I beg of you to please prove me wrong about the motivations and mentality of the NSW government. We desperately need for all of you to care about this, especially the population of Sydney. I want you to seriously think about the deadly consequences; think about how you would feel if put in this position. Maybe some of you are. I stand up for my daughter and for her future family. I stand up for what’s right. Oppose this project. Please put a stop to this facility. There are other solutions to dealing with this crisis. We just need to open up a dialogue, and listen to each other.
Everyone effected by this will not rest until Veolia is stopped. We might be small, rural communities but we have big voices!
Thank you,
Annie Lok, resident of Bungendore; relative of Mount Fairy home owners.

https://theconversation.com/can-we-safely-burn-waste-to-make-fuel-like-they-do-in-denmark-well-its-complicated-148250

i have significant concerns about toxic emissions both air born and via our water table.
the organisation planning this 'development has been charged (EPA reports) for not staying within identified targets already on other projects - why would this be different.
we are a rural farming community.
there must be other locations to incinerate waste that is not even generated by our community.

This project is DANGEROUS.

I oppose the Woodlawn advanced Energy Recovery Centre due to the significant health impacts associated with waste incineration. Having reviewed the EIS, with particular focus on the Human Health Risk Assessment, I find the assessment of negligible risk unfounded. Attached is a small amount of research comparing recommendations and findings from the World Health organisation, Veolia’s assessed impacts and reported emissions from a similar site Veolia owns in the UK. I have a vested interest in the outcome of this project as I own a property in Tarago, a place I hoped to raise my young family. We were attracted to the town as it is small, quiet and in beautiful countryside while still being close enough to Canberra and Goulburn for work. There are many families in Tarago and nearby towns who feel the same, and this development of this project would unequivocally destroy that.

I totally object to the Incinerator because that’s what it is. What about the carbon foootprint from transporting fromSydney to Tarago if they were serious about being carbon neutral why don’t they built it closer to the source. We drink tank water how safe will that be.
We have agriculture they also eat the grass and drink the water seriously who will buy my produce when contaminated. We are also part of the Sydney catchment do resident from that area know what’s going on. What is their management plan if a derailment was to happen. They have demonstrated that they can’t be trusted
regarding the smell that leaches from their plant so how can we trust them to let us know in real time if any incident happens regarding this proposed waste to energy Plant better known as an INCINERATOR.

This project is a risk to public health on many levels. Toxic air pollution, Veolia has already admitted that the incinerator will exceed NSW Government safety standards. Persistent Organic Pollutants will leach into aquifers and poison springs, bores, creeks and rivers, lakes and dams throughout the Sydney catchment area. The air and water pollution will then contaminate food production and ultimately contribute to cancers, miscarriages and many other conditions. The emissions also will contribute to Climate Change which also adversely impacts Public Health.

We can't let this incinerator go ahead. We live in a rural region for the fresh air unpolluted water peace and quiet and to raise all forms of meats, fruits and vegetables not to have them the covered in toxins and other bad fall out from a stinking harmful construction that is not wanted in this area. Real estate will suffer who wants to live with the uncertainty of this construction.
All this analysis we are supposed to accept as being safe. Does your panel really believe it's safe.
Hope you see that this proposal can't go ahead for the future of humanity youmust SAY NO.

The proposal for an incinerator at Tarago should not be approved. The smell from Woodlawn can't be controlled properly they have been fined many times over the years they say we will fix it but they don't. How are they going to control the fall out of all the harmful substances that will
be omitted from this so called Advanced Energy Recovery Centre an INCINERATOR.
We have tank water. What guarantee can they give us our water will be safe and the air we breath.
What about the primary producers and the effect on stock who will want to buy them knowing they have been in the area of this harmful construction. The plant in the UK is what they are using for their EIS they are harmful to the environment agriculture and humanity Ask the people who live there. 600 millions dollars should be used on implementing a re-use, recycle reduce environment. Think about the carbon footprint on getting the waste to Tarago if it is so safe keep it in Sydney. This whole situation is so wrong it's about the dollar not humanity.