EPA approval for waste plan
Alcoa to expand Moolap landfill
ALCOA has been given the green light to build two new above ground landfill cells in Geelong, where it will dump 90,000 cubic metres of industrial waste.
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has approved the construction of two new cells at the Moolap landfill to accept waste generated at Alcoa’s Point Henry premises.
Earlier this year the international aluminium giant — which ceased its Geelong operations in 2014 — revealed plans to convert one of its three Point Henry landfills into a “valuable community asset” by relocating waste from its CPL landfill site on Point Henry Rd to an expanded landfill in Portarlington Rd, Moolap.
An Alcoa planning application has revealed the $5.7 million plan to expand the Moolap landfill by 18,000sq m to house the relocated waste and to rehabilitate the CPL landfill site to transition “Point Henry into a valuable community asset for current and future generations”.
The EPA approval for the new landfill cells notes they will be designed for industrial waste from its decommissioned plant — including dross dust, soil, sediment, clay, coke, salt pond residue, carbon spent anodes, concrete and pavers — and the contents of the CPL landfill.
Approval conditions include requirements for an independent environmental audit of the site, environmental monitoring and reporting to the EPA, management of any gas, leachate, stormwater, dust and noise, and plans for prevention and control of fire, litter and weeds.
The new cells are expected to be filled, capped and rehabilitated by mid-2022.
The City of
Geelong Council
Greater has also released the project’s planning application for public comment, including an Alcoa report outlining its plan to consolidate its three Point Henry landfills into two.
“This planning application, in tandem with a secondary planning application concerning Alcoa’s CPL landfill, marks a key step in transitioning Point Henry into a valuable community asset for current and future generations,” the report notes.
“The expansion of the Moolap landfill is linked to the removal and rehabilitation of the CPL landfill also on Alcoa landholdings, and ultimately a key step towards the closure of industrial operations across the wider site.
“As this application seeks to remove industrial waste and generally reinstate the land to its former uncontaminated and vegetated state, no detrimental impacts to water quality will result from the works as proposed.”