Cleanaway's Western Sydney Energy & Resource Recovery Centre

I wish to object to this project that is essentially a large incinerator which burns waste products including plastics to generate electricity. This project will cause cumulative air and water pollution threats to Blacktown and surrounding communities. There are far safer ways to deal with waste as waste incineration entrenches a linear economy in our society that relies on the extraction of virgin materials and rewards consumptive and wasteful lifestyle choices. Our society needs to transition as soon as possible to a circular economy where resources are not destroyed through landfills or incineration but rather are conserved through reuse, recycling and composting schemes generally known as Zero Waste Solutions.

I, Leah Llagas, of 22 Rositano Place Rooty Hill NSW 2766, a mere 3kms away from the proposed site, STRONGLY OBJECT to this SSD for the following reasons:

1. Insufficient effort was made to consult with the local community.

While I have seen and heard of people receiving flyers in their letterbox, I haven't. How can they ignore consulting with residents so close to the proposed site? Cleanaway has made claims that they have consulted with over 300 members of the local community without a single objection. Even if I was given this opportunity to participate in such a "consultation", I would not have engaged in their choice on engagement. They have used a marketing company who are trained to phrase questions so they can obtain the answers they were PAID to collect. THIS ISN'T AN APPROPRIATE COMMUNITY CONSULTATION METHOD and the results of such a marketing endeavour should not inform the decision-making process for such a proposal.

2. This proposal endangers the health of the whole Sydney basin, not just the local community where it will be built.

This is certainly not a NIMBY (Not in my backyard) issue, as plume plotters have shown time and time again how far the toxic substances will travel (up to Bondi in some instances). The plume plotter has the ability to predict such effects having taken into consideration the wind speed and direction and temperature on any given day. Besides this, approval for one facility certainly opens the door to the other proposals all over Sydney and NSW, when Waste to Energy facilities in EU and US are being decommissioned at the moment due to the ill health effects on the community (which only surface many years later).

3. This is NOT a sustainable way to dispose of waste and is right at the bottom of the waste hierarchy.

It undermines recycling efforts as proven in European countries. Once it is operational, the "beast must be fed". It also “steals” real jobs from all the other ZERO WASTE strategies because it is an automated process. It destroys valuable resources and the embedded energy in its production so it has a negative net effect when it comes to energy production.

4. The toxic effects have been proven to be much more systemic - being found in produce, livestock and eggs, which are distributed right throughout the country even if farmed near the proposed site.

There are numerous grocery warehouses including Woolworths, Coles and Aldi within 5kms of the site. There is also Lite N Easy and chicken & vegetable farms around the area. The Prospect Reservoir, which forms part of the emergency water supply is a couple of kilometres away. With no prevailing winds, the immediate 5km radius becomes the "sacrifice zone" but the toxicity spreads very quickly with the transfer of all the goods and fresh produce housed in these warehouses and farms, as well as the water in the Prospect Reservoir.

These effects have devastating consequences in utero. The future generations are sacrificed. CURRENT health statistics in Western Sydney show some of the highest pulmonary conditions. The air we breathe will only get worse and this puts additional physical, psychological and financial burdens that can never be justified!

5. The Next Generation's proposal was already rejected by an Independent Inquiry.

Various government departments have raised their objections to an incinerator ie EAPA, Department of Health. Yet, the Department of Planning engaged an Independent Inquiry which still rejected the proposal. How is the Cleanaway proposal different? We have also previously collected 11,000-12,000 signatures from people who object to incinerators in Sydney. I am convinced that the same 12,000 people would object to this proposal as the science has not changed. The proponents have but not really as they have the same ridiculous track record when it comes to the environment.

6. Australia still doesn't have enough air quality standards to regulate a proposal such as this.

As mentioned, incinerators are shutting down everywhere in EU, US and other countries because of the effects only discovered many years later. Are we really going to wait for the dangerous toxic effects before we say NO to such money making proposals? Proposals like this should not be allowed to apply considering that there is no suitable regulation available once they are operational. Self-regulation is not good enough especially due to the next point.

7. As with the TNG proposal, this SSD is being proposed by a company with a laughable reputation when it comes to the environment.

Are we really that naive to think that they are doing this for the environment? They are effectively offering bribes and incentives to community organisations and the Blacktown Council in their proposal disguised as their way of giving back to the community. Wow! Can people really not see through that? It’s worse than Ian Malouf’s idea of providing solar panels to 1000 homes!

8. Energy from Waste facilities are dangerous FULL STOP!

No one can ever rule out with certainty the likelihood of accidents when these facilities are concerned and have happened in other facilities in the world. Accidents which cannot be afforded because of their catastrophic effects:
- Explosions at facilities due to malfunction;
- Increased release of particles and odours when the plants shut down when weather temperatures surpass 37 degrees Celsius then turned back on again (we will surpass that twice just in this coming week November 16-23, 2020);
- Spillage of toxic residue as they are transported through the Sydney suburbs to places where they want to encase the toxic ash equivalent to ¼ of the waste they burnt and dump into landfill;
- Seepage from such encasements in the future and leaching into the environment;
- and the list goes on!

In conclusion, I urge the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to stand up for the people it has been established to protect, not businesses such as Cleanaway that will profit from proposals such as the outdated technology of Energy from Waste facilities, which may seem like easy fixes in the present but with dire consequences in the immediate as well as the long-term future.

We wish to update this submission that was lodged earlier this morning. If possible, please replace it with the following:

Cleanaway’s Massive Incinerator at Eastern Creek. 15/11/20

We, the residents of Eastern Creek and surrounding suburbs oppose this crazy massive incinerator project on the following grounds:

1. We cannot trust the Department of Planning because they approved 7 major polluting projects in our area despite intense public opposition.

a/ The largest landfill site in the Southern Hemisphere at Eastern Creek. It emits the foulest smells 24/7, especially after rain. It has constant trucks delivering waste.

b/ A full sized steel mill in Rooty Hill which emits noise and fumes and trucks 24/7.

c/ A concrete recycling plant at Rooty Hill that emits grey dust and has trucks 24/7.

d/ A full size international airport at Badgerys Creek where planes will scream overhead and pollute 24/7.

e/ The Eastern Creek drag and car raceway has unbearable noise pollution on most days of the year. The traffic and fumes on racedays is unbearable.

f/ The m4 and m7 tollways that dissect our once peaceful Eastern Creek. Besides the exorbitant tolls, there is the constant traffic noise, crowded side roads and the dense pollution.

2. All air pollution from factories, transport and bushfires in the Sydney Basin circulates in an anticlockwise direction. After this pollution fills our lungs in Eastern Creek, it circulates to Bankstown, Southern suburbs, the CBD, Eastern Suburbs, North Shore, Richmond, Penrith and back again. We already suffer from the 7 serious polluting projects listed above. I came to this suburb with healthy lungs but now I suffer from asthma and need daily medication.

3. The massive proposed incinerator has a sinister input of “residual municipal solid waste, residual commercial waste and industrial waste”. That description can cover toxic, dangerous, infectious, flammable, radioactive and unpleasant waste that will be impossible to quantify or inspect beforehand.

4. To get the 500,000 tonnes of the unspecified waste to the massive incinerator, the truck movements to and from will be a nightmare 24/7. The noise, pollution and damage to our roads will be incalculable.

5. Wallgrove Road, which will bear the brunt of the truck movements, is totally unsuitable. Just drive in the vicinity of the proposed massive incinerator on any morning or afternoon and you will be already in a traffic standstill. Even the adjacent m4 and m7 tollways are at a standstill in Eastern Creek every day. An average of 1,369 tonnes of waste per day will be trucked, 365 days a year including Christmas! Are they serious?

6. The residents are kept in the dark about all aspects of the proposed massive incinerator. What will it look like? Will we see massive chimneys? Will there be unbearable noise? What will the fumes smell like? Where will the waste be stored before being incinerated? Where will the ash go? Will it diminish our power supplies? Will the operations be monitored and be transparent? Where will any profits go? Will our council subsidize the operations by raising our rates? What incentives has Blacktown Council given to Cleanaway? Has Cleanaway given the council any money or incentives to approve the massive incinerator? Why is the Blacktown Council so wishy washy about the project by calling it “energy-from- waste” which makes it sound benign and absolutely grand?

7. Why doesn’t Cleanaway build their massive incinerator closer to the source of the waste? The vast majority of the waste will come form the east of the city. If it is so safe why not build it closer the CBD say in Randwick. The middle of the Randwick Racecourse would be ideal.

8. The incinerator is adjacent to Prospect Reservoir, a source of Sydney drinking water. The toxic fumes from residential, commercial and industrial waste burning in the massive incinerator 24/7 will pollute our drinking water, which will be only 500 metres away.

9. Why do these controversial projects always come up for public comment just before Christmas? People are busing preparing for end of year and holidays. Teachers are marking exam papers and writing reports. Shop staff are flat out serving hordes of customers. Cleanaway seem to be hoping people will be too distracted and stressed by the pandemic to object to their massive incinerator.

10. This massive incinerator is close to at least 10 schools, both primary and secondary Schools, which will be adversely affected by the toxic fumes. Children’s lungs are particularly vulnerable to permanent damage.

11. This massive incinerator is bad enough, but there is a second proposal to build an even bigger massive incinerator within sight of this one as well as one at Botany and another at Lithgow! Unbelievable!

This proposal to build the massive incinerator must not go ahead. The people of Eastern Creek, Horsley Park, rooty hill, Doonside, Erskine Park, Minchinbury, Kemps Creek, Orchard Hills, Badgerys Creek, Mount Druitt and Blacktown are already suffering bad health and loss of enjoyment in their environment from the bad decisions of the State Planning Department. FAIR GO!

Peter and Marta Juocys
9 White Place rooty hill NSW 2766

Pollution
detrimental health problems from the pollution

Impacts on environment along with detrimental health implications and depreciation of property value

As a previous Worthy Matron of the Blacktown Order of the Eastern Star Chapter, and still a member, having friends and family living in the Blacktown region, I absolutely object to this proposal upon the following grounds:
- Western Sydney is too hot already. The temperatures in Summer are already unbearable, coupled with the humidity known to the area.
- Creating a new heat source in the area may favour the wealthy who can afford air conditioning, but what about those who cannot. People may become ill or worse simply because the government chooses poorly to put a heat source in an already too hot area. We don’t want that do we?
- If such a facility is required it can be located further out of the region. In the busy Western Sydney region any offensive or undesirable effects of having such a facility in the area would impact lifestyle, housing, traffic (did someone say traffic - we already know the M4 gets heavily congested) and like ability of living in the region.

I object to this project as there is no scientific proof that this will have no detrimental health effects to the people living in this neighbourhood long or short term. This will also bring down the value of prices in an area that has seen good progress over the years. Who would want to buy property near an incinerator? This is clearly a step back for the progress of this community in service of the rich few who will benefit from this. Best this project find an alternative site far away from residential areas. I vehemently object to this proposal for the sake of my family's health and well being and ensure this community thrives and progresses in a positive direction.

Submission - Objection to Cleanaway Proposed Processing and Co-generation Plant.

We object to the approval of the above proposed Cleanaway Processing and Co-generation Plant at Eastern Creek or any residential and urban area in Sydney.
1. The proposal is dangerous to human health as it will allow hazardous dust particles to be emitted into the environment and which cannot be totally filtered. Plastics will be burnt producing persistent organic pollutants which will accumulate over time in Sydney resident’s bodies. This will later give way to unacceptable negative health outcomes for all Sydney residents in the future and will increase the burden on the health system.
2. Burning particles from the recent 2019 bush fires showed that the spread of burning matter is unable to be contained in any one area. The smoke that encompassed all Sydney suburbs from bush fires hundreds of kilometres away that we experienced last year was dangerous to human health, as will this proposal from Cleanaway, but it will be constant, 24/7, year in year out.
3. The toxic waste ash will also prove to be a problem for disposal and will be placed in landfill which will be a future problem with contamination of the ground.
The people working in these plants will also be at constant risk in terms of their health.
4. We are creating a certain health problem for our city and at the expense of resident’s health only to allow a company to lessen their costs and increase their profits, which is outrageous.
5. Today we would not build a Coal Fired Power Station in Australian’s largest city, Sydney, so why this Co-generation Plant? Although a HTLE Coal Fired Power Station would be less polluting and much safer than this proposal.
6. The Sydney basin area also has many food/market gardens/agricultural producing areas worth over $1 billion annually, this proposal by Cleanaway would also pollute and contaminate the food we produce and eat and as well as the air we breathe. Our children’s futures are at stake and local farming areas.
7. There are better ways to deal with waste, firstly not produce the waste in the first instance; the other would be to employ methods of proper and genuine recycling and reuse within NSW and across Australia.
8. We strongly object to this type of short sighted, dangerous and hazardous Processing and Co-generation Plant of Cleanaway. All residents of Sydney should be able to live in a safe and clean environment. The NSW government should stop this proposal or any other proposed incineration of waste. It simply should not allow this proposal to be approved and go ahead.
Yours faithfully,
Richard and Carla Smolenski, Matraville NSW.
15 November 2020.

I live in Bungarribee suburb which is quite close to the proposed project. It will create significant problem for me and my family by creating pollution. Please shift this project in a fad remote area. We have a big country so there should not be any problem finding out a quite place far from human habitation. Thanks

I strongly object to having a waste incinerator so close to our community.

As a resident living in close proximity by to the proposed location, I object to this. Waste incinerators are dangerous. Air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, mercury, lead, dioxins and furans are emitted from waste incinerators at higher levels than even natural-gas-burning power plants. These substances are known to have effects such as increased risk of cancer, respiratory illness, cardiac disease and developmental and neurological problems. No community should have to endure this in their backyard.
Our local community has objected to these incinerators previously and continually has to keep fighting for the future of our community and our health in relation to these incinerators.

I write to register my OBJECTION to the proposed Western Sydney Energy & Resource Recovery Centre by Cleanaway & my reasons are as follows:

Incinerators pollute nearby communities and diminish the health of the population at large.
Burning our waste poses considerable risks to the health and environment of nearby communities as well as the broader public. Even the most technologically advanced incinerators release thousands of pollutants that contaminate our air, soil, and water.

What’s more, incinerators release more toxic pollution than coal-fired power plants per unit of energy. To make the same amount of energy as a coal power plant, waste incinerators release:
28 times as much dioxin (a known carcinogen);
5 times as much carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas known as the “silent killer”);
3 times as much nitrogen oxides (a gas that aggravates asthmatic conditions and contributes to the production of ozone);
6–14 times as much mercury (a toxic, heavy metal that damages the brain, kidneys, and lungs);
nearly 6 times as much lead (another toxic, heavy metal that damages the brain and kidneys, and causes severe developmental problems in young children, including learning disabilities and impulse control); and,
70 percent more sulfur dioxides (toxic gases with a strong odor).
In newer incinerators, air pollution control devices such as air filters capture and concentrate some of the pollutants, but they don’t eliminate them. The captured pollutants are simply transferred to other by-products such as ash and wastewater treatment sludge that are then deposited in landfills. Eventually, the ash and sludge are released into the environment when the landfill systems break down.

Air filters also still let many hazardous emissions such as ultra-fine particles (which are unregulated and particularly harmful to health) escape into our air. It is estimated that these kinds of airborne particulates cause the deaths of over 2 million people worldwide each year. The proposed incinerator is to be located within 1 km of existing schools, pre-schools, sporting fields & residential areas which is totally inappropriate.

Incinerators do not eliminate the need for a landfill
Incinerators are fundamentally a way of treating waste before landfilling it. Although incineration is often touted as a landfill alternative, the fact is that 25 percent of the weight of incoming waste remains as residual ash that still requires landfilling or disposal. This ash contains heavy metals and toxic compounds like dioxins and will be toxic for generations to come. More immediately, these pollutants can leach out into groundwater and rivers.
What’s more, air pollutants such as mercury, dioxin, and other contaminants are also concentrated in fly ash, bottom ash, boiler ash, slag, and wastewater treatment sludge. This remainder is deposited in landfills and will be toxic for generations to come. More immediately, these pollutants can leach out as landfill containment systems break down, posing a more immediate threat to groundwater and rivers.
Ash management is a problem for incinerators, and serious cases of mismanagement have occurred in recent years in the U.S.A

Incinerators are incompatible with recycling and Zero Waste goals
The European Union is moving away from burning waste for energy because of the health risks from toxic emissions & reducing their carbon footprint. They have instead adopted strict recycling "circular economy objectives" which we should be following here in Australia & elsewhere around the world.
Incinerators are competing to process the same materials as recycling and composting programs, but they burn that waste instead. As long as cities, towns, and businesses are tied up in contracts to incinerate their waste, then reduction, recycling, composting, and other Zero Waste programs are stunted.

Incinerators are a massive waste of energy and they contribute to climate change.
Proponents of incinerators point to their use as power generators as a plus – with the heat from incineration providing electricity that is cleaner than fossil fuel sources. But older incinerators generate electricity at very low efficiency rates of 19-27 percent, and a recent study from the United Kingdom found that conversion efficiencies of new incineration technologies are even lower.
Conversely, zero waste practices such as recycling and composting could save three to five times the amount of energy produced by waste incineration. When taken together, the amount of energy wasted in the U.S.A by not recycling aluminum and steel cans, paper, printed materials, glass, and plastic is equal to the annual output of 15 medium-sized power plants. In other words, if we simply had better practices for recycling, we wouldn’t need as much of the power generated by incinerators in the first place.
What’s more, incinerators emit more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity (2,988 lbs/MWh) than coal-fired power plants (2,249 lbs/MWh). According to the U.S.A Environmental Protection Agency, “waste-to-energy” incinerators and landfills contribute far higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions and overall energy than following the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra.

In summary, the proposed "waste to energy incinerator" would be a health hazard to the nearby community as well as the greater Western Sydney basin population & environment due to its on-going pollution. It wouldn't eliminate the need for a landfill. It would squash reduction, recycling and composting programs; and produce few jobs when compared to Zero Waste programs. These incinerators are unsustainable and inefficient producers of energy when compared to the energy saved by Zero Waste programs. A similar proposal for a waste to energy incinerator at Eastern Creek by Dial A Dump was rejected due to being unsuitable & unsafe.

So very, very much is wrong with burning our waste. Instead of continuing to “feed the beast” and send our waste to outdated, dangerous incinerators, We should prioritize Zero Waste practices – reducing, recycling, and composting. We can’t keep putting the health of our communities, our climate, and our environment at risk for the sake of our waste.

I object to the cleanaway i believe we will suffer from many health issues. I suffer from asthma and I am 75 years old I believe the incinerator will affect my health in a negative way. I think we should be looking at other ways such as zero waste.

Aside from the fact that this project has been knocked back before and shouldn't be considered now, have a think about the environmental impact, people say coal emissions are bad, this stuff is worse! You are putting not just the environment at risk, but people's lives. Can you really live with knowing that allowing this is allowing major health issues, cancer, etc, and not just for this generation but for generations to come? People want the government to give a time frame on when they expect that the country will be at zero net emissions and worried about climate change and then we this as even being a possibility? Really?! It goes against everything that the whole world are trying to make a positive change for!

Re: ‘Cleanaway’s Western Sydney Energy & Resource Recovery Centre - Application Number SSD-10395’


I strongly object to any incinerator or waste to energy facility that burns waste.

Particularly, I am overwhelmingly concerned for the environmental and the health impacts of such a facility. This is especially concerning when these facilities have strong opposition overseas, and are being closed down due to community outrage and health issues decades after these incinerator have been commissioned.

The Sydney basin is exactly that - a basin. As with any city with basin-like geography, heat, dust, pollutants, and odours stay trapped by the surrounding outskirts of the landscape. This is particularly emphasised in Western Sydney, with the blue mountains to the west, and a very long distance from the ocean winds on the far east coast. Historical weather data has indicated that the ocean winds fail to reach Western Sydney until late in the evening. Due to the geography of the Western Sydney basin, these winds push pollutants up the blue mountains, only to be blown back down the basin in the early hours of the morning by westerly morning winds. This results in a heat and pollution trap in our west.

My concerns for both the environment and health impacts are emphasised by the inherent design/geography of the Sydney basin.

Additionally, as stated in the EIS, “Numerous epidemiological studies have reported significant positive associations between particulate air pollution measured as PM10 and PM2.5 and adverse health outcomes, in particular, mortality as well as a range of adverse cardiovascular and respiratory effects. Studies have shown links between PM10 and PM2.5 and a wide range of health effects (USEPA 2012, 2018b; WHO 2013b). In particular, the links between PM2.5 and health effects have been shown to be causal.”

The above quote is exactly the reason I am against this incinerator. Not only will this facility be adding greenhouse gases such as CO, CO2, and sulphur compounds which cannot be filtered, it will also be adding PM2.5, PM10, and other particles including dioxins and heavy metals into the atmosphere and environment. Regardless of the amount that is released, any increase in these levels can have a severe impact on the health of humans and the general ecosystem, as stated in the EIS.

This is an unacceptable risk to our families, children, animals, and the general environment. Not to mention the incredibly toxic by-products of incineration.

In addition to this, this site is incredibly close to Prospect Reservoir, which poses a huge risk to the people of western and inner western Sydney who rely on this as their main water supply. While the EIS states that only a small amount of pollution will fall onto the water, what they fail to explain is that any areas of runoff into the reservoir will further increase pollution levels. Additionally, wildlife who use this reservoir will ingest and breathe in these pollutants. This can lead to biomagnification, which in simple terms is this: if a fish eats lots of small fish or particles that have consumed toxins, and then a duck eats 100 of those fish in a week, it has consumed a much larger amount of toxins and pollution than originally accounted for. This can result in a range of issues, and completely destroy ecosystems that were otherwise dealing with background levels of pollution and toxins.

Finally, the EIS admits that the incinerator will emit pollution and toxins, which will be inhaled and ingested by residents in western and south-western Sydney. It is unacceptable to have residents scared to grow vegetables in their own gardens, or fearful to use rainwater due to the increased pollution and toxins from the incinerator.

We should not be scared to live in our communities. We should not be scared to drink our tap water. We should not be scared to let our kids play in the garden, or grow veggies for young families to enjoy. We should not be scared for our health, wellbeing, and environment.

Please do not let this incinerator through, or any near built up areas. It is sad that we have to keep fighting for our right to fresh clean air and safe environments.

Thank you.

Unless and until the Science and Government supports the planned incinerator at Eastern Creek I strongly object to this project on behalf of our Children and future generations who will be adversely affected.

This will affect the healthy of my family and community!

This has already been challenged once and disapproved/cancelled, this is not required in the area and is toxic to the already polluted area. I suffer from allergies that I only obtained when moving to Western Sydney, we don’t need any more pollution!

I’m merely thinking of the future. Have we not learnt that such emissions are a cause to the planet, health, and safety of our community?!

Dear Commissioner,
As a long time resident of Western Sydney and a Resident of Rooty Hill NSW which is one of the close surrounding suburbs to this proposal I have grave concerns that if this proposal was ti go ahead it would significantly impact on my suburb and the environment.

Burning rubbish is not the way to go to protect our environment with the amount of carbon that will be released into the atmosphere. We are already having a significant impact on the environment and as we witnessed this 2019/2020 summer with wild fires raging and pollution billowing into the atmosphere we can't possible allow this reckless increase of contamination to be spewed out into the environment.

This type of proposal has already been rejected yet again we see that those with money will do anything to get their way.
Burning of rubbish is something that was done in the 1950 - 70s. We seem to forget why personal incinerators were banned from back yards and the smog that they use to spew out over our suburbs.
This proposal will generate pollution which will be blown allover our homes.

The proposer of this project may promise to do many fan-dangle things but they will still produce carbon which will be released into the atmosphere.
We can't possible allow this type of project no matter how much money they propose to spent to be allowed to further pollute our environment and thus further accelerate our headlong run to see an increase in the temperature of our planet.
WE ONLY HAVE ON PLANET, THERE IS NO PLANET B.
This is old technology its like putting lipstick on a pig , Its still a pig.

We have to think of our Children and Grand Children and ......
What are we going to leave for them.
As I approach my elder years (71) I am ashamed of what we are leaving to our next generation.
I constantly talk to my grandchildren and apologies for the mess we are leaving them. I find this most stressful that we are going to allow such a proposal to go a head.
I plead with you to not allow this monstrous proposal to go ahead.
WE MUST RECYCLE not burn our waste.
We must protect the next generation, they too deserve a clean environment to live in.
We have stuffed our planet by being so carefree and burnt so much fossil fuel, yet here we go again ready to accept more destruction of our environment.
Please do not give the go ahead to this proposal.
We must protect the future.
Consider and Determine wisely
Regards
Joseph Bajada
Resident of Western Sydney for over 58 years.