I've tabled the following motion on contamination at the St Peters Interchange site for our next Council meeting on Tuesday 13 August.

MOTION:

1. That Council notes that on 25 June 2024, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) declared the St Peters Interchange site significantly contaminated based on high methane and carbon dioxide concentrations stemming from historic use of the site as a landfill;

2. That Council notes that concerns about pollution at the site have been raised by the community and Council for many years, and there has been a long history of unsafe and illegal contamination issues here; 

3. That Council notes that Transport for NSW has consistently failed to publish all of the pollution data it is required to monitor and report as a condition of its Environment Protection Licence for the site, and that the reports it has published have had serious errors and omissions;

4. That Council notes that the EPA has consistently failed to take compliance action against Transport for NSW for these monitoring and reporting breaches, despite repeated requests from Council and the community;

5. That Council notes that the parklands that were supposed to be provided at the St Peters Interchange under the conditions of approval for WestConnex, including the park at the corner of Princes Highway and Canal Road that was due to open in 2019, have still not been delivered, and that no timeframe has been given for the delivery of these parklands;

6. That Council writes to the Minister for the Environment and the EPA to request that they:

a. Provide an urgent briefing as to why the EPA has chosen to declare the site as significantly contaminated now, when pollution issues have existed here for many years, and what this will mean for the ongoing management of the site;

b. Keep our local community fully informed of the actions the EPA will be taking to resolve contamination issues at the site, including regular updates to Council;

c. Share any reports that the EPA has ordered Transport for NSW to provide in relation to the site with Council as soon as possible, as previously requested by Council on multiple occasions;

d. Take enforcement action on any breaches on any non-compliance issues and licence breaches at the site to protect our local community, and keep Council updated on those actions.

7. That Council continues to call on the NSW Government to work with Council to identify an alternative site to provide genuine parkland for the community as compensation for the impacts of WestConnex.

BACKGROUND:

Inner West Council and members of our local community have consistently raised concerns about contamination at the St Peters Interchange site since the former landfill was compulsorily acquired by the NSW Government in 2014 for the construction of WestConnex.

The long history of contamination issues and government failures at the site, and the repeated attempts made by Council and the local community to hold those responsible to account, have been summarised by Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) in its report St Peters Interchange: A litany of unsafe and illegal contamination failures. This report, which has been reprinted with permission with this motion at Attachment 1, was compiled by local volunteers within our community such as Charlie Pierce, an environmental scientist with expertise in landfill management who has previously addressed Council about contamination at the site.

Council unanimously passed motions in 2021, 2022 and 2023 that called on the NSW Government to request that Transport for NSW share any reports ordered by the EPA about contamination at the site with Council, and that the EPA take enforcement action on any non-compliance issues and licence breaches at the site, with Council to be kept informed on such actions. The most recent response to these representations was sent by the Minister for Roads on 18 April 2024, but it did not provide the information Council requested (see Attachment 2).

On 25 June 2024, the EPA wrote to Council’s General Manager to advise that it had decided to declare the site as significantly contaminated under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997, based on high methane and carbon dioxide concentrations stemming from the historic use of the site as a landfill (see Attachment 3).

Given these issues have been present for years, it is unclear why the EPA has taken this step now, or what implications this declaration will have for the ongoing management of the site, which is why I am proposing that Council seeks an urgent briefing. It is also imperative that the EPA keeps the community and Council fully informed of how it will be resolving contamination issues at the site.

Given that Council has yet to receive a response to our repeated requests for the EPA to share the reports it has ordered from Transport for NSW, or take enforcement action against non-compliance issues and licence breaches at the site, I am also proposing that we repeat those requests in light of this declaration. 

The declaration of the site as significantly contaminated again emphasises how unsuitable the St Peters Interchange is for the public parkland that the community was promised as compensation for WestConnex, and which the NSW Government is obligated to deliver. The Minister for Roads’ letter did not acknowledge Council’s request to provide an alternative site for genuinely compensatory parkland, but given it is likely to be many more years before the site is safe for public use, it is important for Council to keep advocating for our community on this.

ATTACHMENTS

1. St Peters Interchange: A litany of unsafe and illegal contamination failures by Community Environmental Monitoring, February 2024

2. Response to Council from the Minister for Roads, 18 April 2024

3. Letter to Council and declaration of the St Peters Interchange site as significantly contamination from the EPA, 25 June 2024