Page 1735 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
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monitored by the Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes Section of the Office of the Environment. These records are kept on a substance by substance basis, with the quantities based on weight, volume and/or number of packages. Records indicate that approximately 5 tonnes of chemical and associated waste were disposed of at the West Belconnen Landfill during 1992.
West Belconnen is the only landfill in the ACT for the disposal of approved chemical and associated waste. Organic solvents and other liquid wastes are no longer disposed of to ACT landfills but are either returned to the manufacturer for recycling or removed by interstate licensed waste contractors for disposal.
As permits are issued by the Radiation Council on an annual basis for a maximum quantity, measured in terms of its radioactivity, the disposal rate (by weight) of radioactive waste is unknown. As a guide, the volume of radioactive wastes, contaminated materials and packaging currently being disposed of at West Belconnen is about 2 cubic metres per month.
(3) Radioactive waste disposal is supervised by the Radiation Safety Section, Public Health Division, ACT Health, under the Radiation Act 9983. Chemical wastes are assessed for environmental safety prior to receiving approval for disposal. The Office of the Environment supervises disposal to ensure that it accords with landfill licensing agreements issued under the Water Pollution Act 9984.
Given that applications for disposal are given principally by volume rather than weight, no estimate of cost is available, however, quantities are generally less than 0.5 tonne each month.
(4) Waste disposal charges have been set to ensure that cost does not provide a disincentive to utilise environmentally sound disposal avenues for the disposal of approved chemical waste. The underlying principle is that the potential damage to the environment that would result from the improper disposal of chemical wastes would outweigh the revenue derived from landfill charges.
No charge is attached to the disposal of household waste that is collected through the garbage collection service or taken to the landfill for disposal by the householder.
(5) The Office of the Environment will not approve the disposal to landfill of any wastes considered to be environmentally hazardous. Waste generators, applying to dispose of "dangerous" waste, will be advised to treat the waste before disposal or to engage an interstate licensed waste contractor to transport the material to a licensed interstate treatment facility.
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