Chris Peterson, Melbourne
The Terminate Tulla Toxic Dump Action Group (TTTDAG) is having some success in their campaign to get the dangerous toxic dump, close to residents and the Tullamarine airport, closed down. While they are yet to get Cleanaway, the dump's owner, to front to a meeting, they have managed to force it to respond to residents' submissions, delaying a decision on whether or not to extend the dump's life.
In 2001, Cleanaway applied for an extension on the life of the dump. According to TTTDAG president and Gladstone Park resident Ivon Tori, Cleanaway had negotiated a final permit that year to take away 177,000 cubic metres of waste, but the dump has continued to operate. Now the local Hume Council wants to know how much waste has been dumped since 2003.
The dump is located 700 metres from residents and Melbourne's international airport. There is some evidence that residents in the nearby suburbs of West Meadows, Gladstone Park, Tullamarine and Attwood are suffering from higher rates of cancers and other illnesses, although a direct link has not been proven. Many airport workers are also suffering from nausea and headaches. Residents say that the dump has polluted the Moonee Ponds Creek which feeds into Port Phillip Bay.
Tori's family has four cases of cancer and related diseases, and health specialists and oncologists have told him it's likely that the conditions were acquired, rather than inherited.
The dump, which has been open for 33 years, was used to dispose of toxic waste and, until the 1980s, carcinogenic waste which means that cancer-causing PCBs and dioxins are in the soil. The 1984 Melways describes the area as a "Liquid Waste Disposal Tip". The site is now used as a landfill, but the toxic chemicals continue to leak as the site is dug up for more waste input.
The dump is also renown for its stench and fires which have sent toxic smoke into the air, causing nearby Gladstone Park schools to be closed on occasion.
TTTDAG was formed in 2005 after local ALP MLA Liz Beattie discovered that Cleanaway had applied for an extension to the dump. Most residents thought the dump had been closed in 2003. The campaign group was formed because residents had given up on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and they were inspired by others' successes in preventing toxic dumps being built.
"We have no faith in the EPA's impartiality: they appear to be more concerned about protecting business before our home environments", Tori said. "If I ran a vehicle that let exhaust fumes into the atmosphere I would be fined and the vehicle put off the road. If I lit an incinerator in my backyard and smoke went into the atmosphere I would be fined. Yet, Cleanway can pollute the environment with toxic fumes that damages people's health and get away with it."
The campaign to close the dump is gaining more support, including from federal MP ALP Maria Vamvakinou and the Hume Council, which is working on a bilingual magazine to inform residents about the dump. Some group members have been involved in closing Niddrie Quarry and stopping the Werribee toxic dump from being built.
TTTDAG wants the dump closed immediately and Cleanaway to fund a long-term, after-care management program to restore the environment. It is also trying to get Cleanaway to fund a council study into the effects of the dump on residents' health.
Terminate Tulla Toxic Dump Action Group holds regular protests at the dump. To get involved contact Ivon Tori on (03) 9338 5974 or 0417 155 215.
From Green Left Weekly, April 12, 2006.
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