Woodlawn Advanced Energy Recovery Centre

My name is Josh and I have property in Goulburn as well as Currawang.
Veolia's toxic waste incinerator will devalue my property and pose health risk to both my family and stock.
Our Currrawang property is already effected by the odour pollutants of the existing development so it is clear that are within the contaminant fall zone under certain weather conditions.
Additional development of the current site to a toxic incinerator introducing further contaminants to this fallout is unacceptable as a landowner who relies on captured tank water for my family and grazing land for our stock.
Previous proposals in Eastern Creek for development of a toxic waste incinerator was rejected by the IPC. Why would it be suitable to proceed with a facility in Tarago- the risks have not changed, mitigations have not removed the health and safety impacts. What makes our community any less important or susceptible with respect to health and safety than those in other post codes. The lasting impacts are not safe, this proposal must not proceed.

I strongly object to this proposal and attach my 22 page submission incorporating my reasons.

See attached submission

My name is Amber. I live in Collector with my partner and my 4-year-old daughter. I
I totally object to Veolia's proposed incinerator being built in Tarago.

My partner and I moved to Collector in 2019. We chose Collector for its beautiful views, peaceful community life, fresh air, the beautiful wineries.

We felt it was the perfect place to raise a family and be more sustainable. We built a passive solar house and fitted it out with double glazing; we've been working hard to reduce our energy and plastic consumption and have begun turning our block into a natural oasis for the local wildlife.

We've also invested a lot of time and dollars in building raised garden beds - so we can be more self-sufficient and enjoy fresh homegrown veggies.

Our daughter has seen a lot in her short life. We moved here at the peak of the drought when she was 8 months old. We ran out of water numerous times and had to desperately wait in line, like the rest of Collector, for water to be shipped in by truck. That's when the black summer bushfire smoke started to roll in. When Goulburn and Canberra topped the world for the most toxic air on earth, I can still remember the smell, being unable to breathe, and lying awake at night fretting about my baby dying of cot death from smoke inhalation.

Since the bushfires, we've been acutely aware of the value of clean air and the price we pay when it's taken away. It also made me aware of just how far the wind can carry these toxic fine particles and gases - ones that are not unlike those that Veolia will produce (PM10, PM2.5 and
nanoparticulates) if the waste incinerator goes ahead.

Veolia's proposed incinerator will generate millions of tonnes of toxic waste ash, including 380,000 tonnes of air pollution control residue (fly ash), classified as hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). They'll dump all of this on-site and contaminate the soil, groundwater, and the Sydney water catchment. Veolia has already polluted local groundwaters this October and was fined by EPA. This proves they can't be trusted to manage such a hazardous facility with toxic outputs safely.

According to the publication' Facts about "Waste-to-Energy" incinerators, GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) 2018, Toxic smoke particulates (PM10, PM2.5 and nanoparticulates) will penetrate our lungs and brain and move into our bloodstream and body organs. This publication and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/pmcourse/particle-pollution-exposure say that incinerator air pollutants can cause illness and death from respiratory problems (asthma, lung disease, breathing difficulties), strokes, cancer, heart disease, heart attack and more.

Since living here, my partner and I have often noticed the waft of a putrid garbage smell on the wind from the direction of Veolia's Woodlawn Bioreactor in Tarago. It gets in our house and is inescapable and sickening. We know it's Veolia as we see the complaints on Currawang and Collector page, which coincides with complaints from our poor neighbours in Tarago.

Veolia's proposed location for an industrial waste incinerator is in one of the windiest areas of NSW; the strong winds will carry these toxic particles, deadly fly ash and gases from the waste incinerator to Collector, Goulburn, Yass, Bungendore, Canberra and beyond.

The NSW Government says in its Energy from Waste Infrastructure Plan that waste incinerators harm human health. I quote: "Populations can still experience health impacts when emissions are below the national standards, and for some common air pollutants, there is no safe threshold of impact".

The NSW Government Chief Scientist and Engineer, in his report to the NSW Minister for Environment in 2020, referenced a systemic review of the health impacts of waste incineration published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health in 2020 by Academics from the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australia, and the Public Health Association of Australia, Australian National University Medical School. This report stated that "there is insufficient evidence to conclude that any incinerator is safe" and, in particular, "contamination of food and ingestion of pollutants is a significant risk pathway for both nearby and distant residents".

These facts should not be ignored, minimised, or swept aside.

Incinerators have been banned from Sydney and areas like Bungonia because of their unacceptable toxic impact on human health, soil, water and the environment.

Veolia's proposal for industrial waste incineration In our region is distressing, disturbing, and deliberately negligent to future generations already facing a climate catastrophe. The toxic emissions will cause irreversible damage to our climate, agriculture, soil, water, and community health.

Veolia has also stated in the EIS that they will only monitor the air quality, not the soil and water. This means that Veolia is deliberately trying to obscure the build-up of toxins in the soil and water surrounding the incinerator so they can't be held responsible for their destruction and damage to the environment in the future.

Why is the NSW Government considering Veolia's unproven technology to conduct mass human trials on unwilling participants?

Why are the people of Tarago and surrounding regions less equal and deserving of clean air and a safe environment than Sydney residents?

The 25-year lifespan of these facilities also deprives Australia of incentives to move to a more circular economy, allowing plastic and other toxic pollution to continue.

Moreover, this is the most expensive, inefficient, and dirty way to produce energy. This technology is outdated and greenwashed at best. Wind turbines surround the region. The relatively small amount of power produced by burning garbage in no way justifies the permanent damage it will cause to the water table, soil and human health.

While the EU is transitioning away from waste incineration after hard lessons learned, why is Australia looking at rolling it out?

Tarago residents said Veolia assured them they would not smell the garbage when they first proposed the tip and for 15 years, Veolia has failed to operate its current Woodlawn operation within license conditions, received multiple fines for odour and contamination, did not inform the community of environmental pollution, and tried to withhold information from the community under freedom of information processes.

Veolia breaks the rules, hides information from the community and pollutes the environment.

The EPA also fined Veolia for leaking containers. Many locals have followed trucks with leaking containers on numerous occasions, and it demonstrates Veolia's contempt for the community.

The NSW Energy from Waste Policy states that incinerator proposals are only valid where "community acceptance to operate such a process has been obtained".

I have spoken to hundreds of residents over the past 12 months. Not one resident I have talked to wants a waste incinerator in their region no matter what standards they are operating - they DO NOT WANT a waste incinerator in their region. They say there are no benefits to the community, and they have everything to lose – their health, property value, and a clean and safe environment to raise their children. In addition, winemakers, beekeepers, local produce sellers and farmers also have their livelihoods to lose because who, in their right mind, would willingly consume food they know was grown next to an industrial waste incinerator?

I repeat, THERE IS NO COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE for a facility in Tarago or anywhere in the Southern Tablelands. The NSW Government need only compare the number of letters of support for Veolia's waste incinerator vs. the letters of objection, signed petitions, number of Communities against the Tarago Incinerator Facebook groups.

This proposal has already caused a significant negative impact on surrounding communities' mental health by increasing anxiety and depression, myself included. I know residents that have experienced panic attacks over this proposal to the point they've had to take time off work.

Since hearing about this proposal, I now lay awake at night imagining my daughter:
• eating vegetables grown in our contaminated soil
• drinking the rainwater (from our tanks - our only water source) tainted from Veolia waste incinerator chemicals such as Lead, Mercury, .
• breathing in the toxic fumes and particles from burning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Sydney waste each year.

I think about the impact it will have on her growing body, her brain and even her ability to have children one day.

Viola’s ‘world best standards' aren't even close to good enough when you consider the multiple caveats in their EIS they deem 'other than normal operations' and their history of failing to comply with their current licence conditions.

Waste-to-energy incinerators are terrible for the environment, people's health, and the climate crisis and should be banned from Tarago and Australia for the facts stated above.

Like everyone, I am bone-tired of the stress and anguish of this proposal.

The only assurance here is prevention; this needs to stop now to save the future of our health and beautiful region.

I invite Veolia and the NSW Government to come and meet the kids of Tarago and surrounding regions, look into their eyes, and tell them that their health and future don't matter because it's a 'State significant project'.

Thank you.

As a resident and landowner in Tarago NSW, I strongly object Veolia’s proposal to build an incinerator at their Tarago location.

My family reside on our property, which is 14km East of Veolia’s “Woodlawn eco- precinct” in Tarago NSW, with our prevailing winds coming predominantly from the West.
While 14km’s may seem like a considerable distance, we are regularly affected by the strong odours produced and emitted by the Woodlawn Eco-Precinct.

While on paper the incinerator technology and output, when operated within standards, may appear or be considered “safe” by some, Veolia have already proven that they cannot operate their current waste to energy facility within standards.
Veolia show a clear lack of care for government, environmental and safety set standards and guidelines, as they have and continue to breach “acceptable” odour levels across Tarago and the Surrounding regions.
Veolia have also had many breaches of wastewater and leachate leaking and spilling into waterways and contaminating ground water.
As a previous worker at the Woodlawn Mine Site back in 2019-2020, I witnessed first-hand the skin reactions and rashes that may of the workers would get if they were to come into contact with the groundwater while working underground. This was a clear indication of the extent of contamination that Veolia’s current operation have already had on the ground water in the surrounding region.

I do not have any trust in Veolia to operate the proposed incinerator within a safe standard and hold grave concerns for not only my own family’s health, but the health of all humans and animals that live, work or travel through Tarago and the surrounding regions.
This is prime agricultural country in the Southern Tablelands, which risks being destroyed and further contaminated by Veolia and their Waste operations.

Why, if the Incineration technology was deemed “not in public interest” back in 2018 when development was proposed for Eastern Creek, are we now having the same technology proposed for Tarago.
The NSW Government has banned waste incinerators in Sydney due to the risk to human health.
If it is not safe for Sydney, it is not safe for us!