THE Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has given an additional $100,000 in funding to Gunnedah Shire Council for the remediation of five sites as part of the Derelict Underground Petroleum Storage System (UPSS) Council Road Reserve Program.
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EPA chairman and chief executive officer Barry Buffier made the announcement in Gunnedah on Monday while visiting with Gunnedah mayor Owen Hasler and general manager Eric Groth, as well as other key council staff as part of a visit to the region.
“This funding from the Environmental Trust is on top of the $200,000 they awarded last year and will help council to finalise important remediation works at a number of sites in council road reserves as a result of derelict UPSS systems,” Mr Buffier said.
“The Derelict UPSS Program has been set-up to help councils remediate these legacy UPSS contamination sites that are left on their land when the service stations no longer exist.”
Mr Buffier spent his time with council discussing local issues such as air quality and waste, and plans to visit the site for the proposed new Gunnedah Community Recycling Centre (CRC), made possible by a $166,335 grant from the Waste Less Recycle More initiative last year.
“This Community Recycling Centre which is now with council for approval is a great example of how the EPA is assisting local councils to improve their environmental performance,” Mr Buffier said.
“When operational, it will provide a free and convenient service for residents to dispose of household problem wastes that cannot be placed in kerbside collection such as paints, used oils, batteries, gas cylinders, smoke detectors and fluorescent lights.
“These problem wastes account for approximately 1400 tonnes of the annual waste collected at the Household Chemical CleanOut events, so having this easily accessible problem waste management will help us improve our resource recovery rate and the environmental performance of our landfills.
“The EPA is committed to assisting councils improve their environmental and waste management and has a number of new grant rounds opening this year including for organics infrastructure, recycling innovation, initiatives in business recycling, illegal dumping and litter reduction, and regional delivery programs.
“We are proud to be rolling out the NSW government’s $465.7 million Waste Less Recycle More initiative to help councils make real changes on the ground for their communities, and I’m thrilled to be able to visit one of the projects here in Gunnedah today,” he said on Monday.
“The EPA values its partnerships with the councils in the Northern Inland Regional Waste Region to deliver better waste outcomes for our communities.”
Cr Hasler said the visit was timely due to the recent support of Gunnedah and Narrabri’s call for the immediate funding and implementation of the proposed Gunnedah Basin Air Quality Monitoring Sytem.
“Both councils have sought the implementation of this system for over two years and it is time for the EPA to take action on our reasonable request by commencing implementation,” Cr Hasler said.