A former landfill site at St Peters in Sydney’s Inner West, now part of the St Peters Interchange, has been declared significantly contaminated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in response to ongoing detections of elevated methane and carbon dioxide levels at the site.
The declaration allows for improved long-term oversight of the Interchange by the EPA and will ensure the site is appropriately remediated for future use, including community use.
The EPA will now work with Transport for NSW (TfNSW) on a Management Proposal which will outline the medium and long-term measures to be put in place under the declaration. This will include plans for ongoing investigation of gas emissions, remediation works and community engagement.
This site has a long industrial history and operated as a landfill from 1988 to 2014. The decomposition of some types of waste is known to generate “landfill gas”, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.
In 2015, the site was acquired by TfNSW for construction of the M8 and M4-M8 Link tunnels, and the EPA currently regulates the St Peters Interchange through an Environment Protection Licence (EPL) which includes a Pollution Reduction Program.
NSW EPA Executive Director Operations Jason Gordon said the risk to the public from emissions is low but that the declaration is needed to ensure monitoring and remediation work continues.
“I want to assure the community that the risk of methane emissions in open spaces is low, and drivers and pedestrians using the site should not be concerned,” Mr Gordon said.
“Landfill gas dissipates quickly in open space so there is no impact on residents in the surrounding suburb and open space users. Tunnel entrances are also well-ventilated and the risk of exposure for drivers is very low.
“There are safeguards already in place across the site, including a network of gas monitoring points and gas collection systems. The declaration will now allow for consistent, long-term regulation of the site and ensure the community’s safety and well-being is protected.”
