TOWN OF VICTORIA PARK NOTES TO AND FORMING PART OF THE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2022

17.CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL COMMITMENTS

(a)Contingent Liabilities

Contaminated site – Tamala Park landfill Site

In February 2020, MRC received its first Mandatory Auditor’s Report (MAR) as requested by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) in respect to the Tamala Park Waste Management Facility site.

Among other things, the purpose of the MAR is to confirm that earlier investigations adequately characterised the contamination status of the site and whether potentially significant risks to human health, the environment or environmental values exist on-site or off-site.

The MRC received a second iteration of the MAR in November 2021, which has further assessed the contamination status of the site. In reaching their conclusion, the independent auditor has evaluated the information contained in the investigative reports as generally complete, accurate and compliant with the relevant guidelines. Also, the assessments were sufficient to define the potential extent and types of contamination.

The MAR auditor has determined, based on the analysis contained in the assessed reports, that the site remains suitable for ongoing use as a Class II landfill (‘source site’). Likewise, the affected site to the north of the facility remains suitable for its current use as a development buffer zone (‘affected site’). A summary of findings for the source site are listed below;

Source site:-

• All soil samples returned results below established criteria.

• Groundwater results indicate impact to the aquifer immediately below the landfill levels above relevant drinking water established criteria, although some results are reflective of naturally occurring conditions. Groundwater on site remains suitable for controlled industrial use on site without an unacceptable risk.

• Landfill gas results indicate that the existing extraction system is working effectively, with negligible detection of landfill gas outside the extraction network.

Affected site:

• Groundwater results indicate some contaminants above relevant drinking water established criteria. Elevated levels of some identified contaminants are also known to occur naturally in the local environment.

• No landfill gas detected outside the site boundary.

Currently, DWER has classified the site as “Contaminated – Remediation Required” and the affected site as “Contaminated – Restricted Use”.

The MAR report received in November 2021 required further investigation to confirm 2 main areas:

• Adequacy of the landfill gas monitoring network and assessment of the potential for offsite migration of landfill gas

• Ongoing assessment of landfill gas and groundwater as part of the ongoing Site Management Plan to inform long term trends and need for mitigation measures.

Since receiving the MAR in November 2021:

Groundwater monitoring

The MRC has commissioned 2 rounds of groundwater testing (December 2021 and June 2021), with the final report on the testing received August 2022. One of the report’s conclusions were based on the groundwater monitoring results in 2021, no significant changes to the overall risk profile at the TPWMF, buffer zone and nearby residential development have been identified, compared to the 2020 assessment. This report also recommended ongoing monitoring required and the recommendation to rationalise the groundwater monitoring network and the number of analytical suites included in each sampling round.