2018-08-07 Services and Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                     7 AUGUST 2018


4.    SYSTEMS & PROCESSES

Environmental




Landfill capping and methane extraction - Council officers working with the landfill gas
contractors (LMS) have installed lateral gas collection lines in the active cell. It is anticipated that
this will increase the future volume of methane captured. Volumes of gas captured and flared
(above) has remained relatively consistent following a spike in volume early in the year. Officers
are to work with LMS in 2019FY to look at further options for improvement.

Above average rainfall was received during the months from December to February. This
coincided with a breakout of leachate from the batter of the landfill and a release of leachate from
site. A formal notification to the Department of Environment and Sustainability (DES) regarding
this incident was required. DES undertook a compliance inspection on 15 February 2018 and
returned formal correspondence accepting that Council had discharged its environmental duty
and welcomed Council’s commitment to undertake assessment and review of the leachate
system to cope with future increases during the next budget cycle.

Surface water monitoring identified some minor breaches of total suspended solids from the on-
site sedimentation basin. These were related to extreme rain events beyond the design capacity
of the basin. Ammonium (an indicator of leachate) were in waters released from the site, however
downstream monitoring confirmed that it did not persist in the surface water system or cause any
environmental harm.

Two rounds of groundwater and gas monitoring have also been completed. No matters of
concern were identified.

Internal monthly environmental inspections have found the site is generally compliant with licence
requirements. Minor issues identified resulted in an increased focus on windblown litter
management and stabilising exposed soils.

Zero Emissions Noosa (ZEN)

Waste Officers have continued to provide detailed information to the ZEN team. The landfill has
been identified as the major source of carbon emissions from the Noosa Council and research is
currently being undertaken to identify how Council can reduce these emissions.




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