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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1420 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

I believe that this is very important. I think there is widespread community concern - not just in Canberra, but across Australia and, indeed, around the world - about the disposal of chemicals by incineration, particularly the disposal of chemicals and other products by incineration close to residential areas. The Totalcare facility is very close to two very large residential areas. I think, therefore, it is appropriate that an independent party in the ACT - in this instance, I believe that the Commissioner for the Environment is the most appropriate person - undertake an investigation of incineration of pesticides and agricultural chemicals at Totalcare. So, my amendments simply propose an end point to Mr Osborne's moratorium and also establish the process for a report into the appropriateness and safety of the incineration of pesticides and agricultural chemicals at Mitchell.

Madam Deputy Speaker, the whole issue of incineration is one that we need to treat very seriously and very carefully. The Labor Party wants to make sure that residents' concerns are allayed, and allayed in an appropriate manner. I was pleased to hear the Minister's reassurances today on a number of issues. Also, I am grateful for the briefings I have received, courtesy of the Minister, from officers of the Environment Protection Service and other agencies. But I still have some concerns. I would like to raise one now particularly, and that is to do with operators at the incinerator facility itself. I had an opportunity to have a look at the incinerator perhaps a month or so ago - maybe two months ago now. I was shown around the operator area where material is actually tipped into the incinerator. I noticed at that time that all around the operating area, both above the chute where material is deposited into the incinerator and around the walls of the room itself, there was a build-up of quite thick black soot. It appeared to have been there for some time.

I raised this both when I was out there at the facility and later in briefings with officers of the department. They have done me the courtesy - and I am thankful for that - of advising me of what action is being taken to rectify that situation. I understand that there will now be exhaust fans placed above the operator working area so that fugitive emissions, if they do occur, are sucked up. There will be extraction fans placed there also. I am pleased to see that; but I must place on the record the fact that I am concerned that such a build-up of soot was allowed to take place and that that soot can only have come from fugitive emissions coming out of the incinerator when it was opened to place material in it.

That has happened quite openly, right in front of the operators operating the equipment, and it must have been occurring for some time for there to be that build-up of soot. That is a concern, particularly as I understand that operators do not wear any particular sort of safety equipment - breathing equipment, a mask, or anything like that. I may be wrong on that, but that is my understanding. For that reason, I am concerned about this particular issue, and I think it may be worth some further investigation. I note that Totalcare is now taking action to rectify that problem so that no further build-up will take place; but I am concerned about how that build-up was allowed to occur in the first place.

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