In May the NSW Environmental Protection Authority was found by the NSW Land and Environment Court to have failed to adequately discharge its statutory responsibilities under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). It failed to enforce license conditions, permitted unlawful expansion of waste operations, and ignored its obligations on no fewer than eleven (11) distinct occasions.
Equally damning was the role played by the former Gosford City Council (GCC), which failed to enforce the original development consent and enabled the importation of 800,000m³ of waste — more than 10 times the originally approved amount.
As the leachate continues to percolate at the top of the Central Coast’s water aquifer, the NSW Government keeps fobbing off the need to get to the bottom of what went wrong, let alone come up with a way forward.
No penalties have ever been issued for the multiple breaches that have occurred, but the EPA has maintained a financial interest in the landfill via the collection of waste levies. This raises serious questions about conflict of interest and whether revenue considerations compromised environmental oversight.
The legal proceedings that once precluded intervention have now concluded. There is nothing standing in the way of Liesl Tesch and Penny Sharpe standing with this community to get answers.
If the government won’t act, perhaps it is time for the community to take a stand and conduct our own Citizens Inquiry to finally let some sunlight in and disinfect what is rotting at the top of the mountain.
Gary Chestnut, Chair, CEN
