By Benjamin Millar
The heavy health cost and devastating environmental toll of last year’s toxic Tottenham warehouse fire have been laid out in Parliament as part of an inquiry into Victoria’s management of recycling and waste.
Representatives of the Anti-Toxic Waste Alliance and Friends of Stony Creek appeared before the legislative council environment and planning committee last Tuesday to detail the lasting impacts of the fire.
They called for an overhaul of the way in which toxic waste is managed to avoid future catastrophic events.
Alliance chair Sue Vittori told the hearing it was time the community’s voice was heard loud and clear.
“We trust this time the community’s concerns are actually being heard and will be acted on, rather than falling on deaf ears, which has happened so often in the past,” she said.
“Members are feeling angry and fearful. We don’t feel safe in our suburbs any more – we feel betrayed and ignored by our political leaders.”
Ms Vittori recounted her experience on the day of the August 30 fire, waking to the sound of explosions and watching a black plume of smoke billow over her Yarraville home.
“I witnessed our creek being turned into a cocktail of chemicals that day,” she said.
“For months, the smell would come back and re-traumatise our residents.”
Ms Vittori said decades of under-funding and ineffective legislation had left the Environment Protection Authority ill-equipped to handle the fight against toxic waste being illegally stockpiled. “The law is worthless if it’s not being properly enforced,” she said. “The EPA has been missing for years.”
Dr Marion Cincotta, a lecturer in public health at Australian Catholic University, said efforts to protect the community from potentially lethal pollutants had been ineffectual for too long.
She said incidents such as the Tottenham fire exposed the community to harmful chemicals and increased anxiety and depressive symptoms that contributed to more serious health problems.
The inquiry is due to release an interim report on August 29.
