The EPA is investigating claims a company is reclaiming land adjacent to the Derwent River without approval, potentially using contaminated fill including asbestos.<\/p>\n
On Thursday during Budget Estimates, Greens MP Vica Bayley questioned the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) over the claims after receiving a tip-off about land being reclaimed adjacent to an industrial site at Derwent Park, with contaminated materials within the fill.<\/p>\n
Responding to his questions, EPA director of environment regulation Cindy Ong confirmed the EPA was investigating the allegation, along with the Glenorchy City Council.<\/p>\n
The EPA wouldn\u2019t confirm which company was being investigated, or exactly where the site was.<\/p>\n
During the question and answer session, Ms Ong confirmed the EPA\u2019s investigation, including into potentially contaminated material, was ongoing.<\/p>\n
She said it was unknown when the investigation would conclude.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of those allegations, and we have been working with the council for some time now to gather the facts on what has happened. So, most recently, we\u2019ve agreed with council to lead an investigation into that situation, and that\u2019s underway now,\u201d Ms Ong said.<\/p>\n
She said the EPA would publicly announce the results if it found a breach of environmental laws had occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do find some breaches of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act as a result of the allegations that have been put forward, we will make a public statement,\u201d Ms Ong said.<\/p>\n
Mr Bayley later spoke out with concerns over the allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny unauthorised reclamation of the Derwent River is completely unacceptable. The Derwent is a vital and beloved public waterway \u2013 it shouldn\u2019t be used for private gain without the proper approvals and community engagement,\u201d he said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe potential use of contaminated materials like asbestos for this land reclamation only make these reports more concerning. This could have serious implications for those who use and live around the Derwent River.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Bayley said the Greens looked forward to the EPA \u201ckeeping the public informed\u201d on its investigation, given the potential impacts on the Derwent River and the surrounding community.<\/p>\n
The EPA told the Mercury it couldn\u2019t comment on the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis matter is under active investigation hence it would be inappropriate for the EPA to comment at this time,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Glenorchy mayor Sue Hickey said she was unable to comment as the matter was now with the EPA, but noted the site allegedly affected was Crown land, not council land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EPA is investigating claims a company is reclaiming land adjacent to the Derwent River without approval, potentially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[349949,349941,331100,349951,349955,64,63,689,349954,349959,349945,349960,164395,349944,75,349953,49007,349961,314279,12804,349948,349947,349958,349946,349943,677,349952,349957,128,349950,2801,349956,349942],"class_list":["post-722207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-active-investigation","tag-amber-wilson","tag-answer-session","tag-asbestos-fears","tag-asbestos-fill","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-cindy-ong","tag-coal-company","tag-contaminated-fill","tag-contaminated-materials","tag-council-land","tag-derwent-park","tag-environment","tag-environment-regulation","tag-environmental-management","tag-epa-investigating","tag-glenorchy-city-council","tag-hobart","tag-illegal-land-reclamation","tag-land-adjacent","tag-land-fill-claims","tag-land-reclamation","tag-mercury-banner","tag-oceania","tag-river-reclamation","tag-salmon-antibiotic","tag-science","tag-sue-hickey","tag-tasmania","tag-tasmanian-greens-mp-vica-bailey","tag-twitter-follow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}