Williamsdale farmers have warned developers of a proposed solar farm they could be building within hundreds of metres of an undisclosed asbestos dump.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Michael McDonald said he saw "truck after truck" deliver builders' waste, which he believed included asbestos materials, onto the block now owned by the ACT government near the closed Williamsdale service station eight to 10 years ago.
It's one of a range of issues the sixth generation landowner and his brother, Brett, have raised in recent submissions rejecting an application on behalf of Elementus Energy for exemption from completing an environmental impact study for the solar farm.
The Land Development Agency, which bought the block and two others adjoining from Icon Water in March, said it was unaware of any asbestos dumps on the property but was commissioning a thorough contamination assessment.
Brett McDonald said the dump site was fully covered and an agricultural-type fence was put up around it about three years ago, but there were no warning signs.
"It's a public safety issue – the dump could be exposed by environment conditions and it's in a gully, and the site falls back into the Murrumbidgee River," he said.
An ActewAGL proposal in 2012 for an exemption from an environmental impact statement for a separate, larger, solar farm on the site was approved, based on a number of studies completed months before.
The exemption application made no mention of asbestos.
The current exemption application's only references to asbestos were regarding the sole house and out buildings – planned for demolition – which may "likely" contain some asbestos materials.
Neither the claimed dump nor the petrol station land would be built on as part of Elementus' plans for a 34-hectare solar farm, leasing land from the government, of which 25 hectares would be covered by the solar panels themselves.
Brett McDonald said the solar array would be about 500 metres east of the dump on current plans.
The calls for an environmental impact statement were backed by the other three submissions received, including from two environmental groups, with calls for evidence on the impact of the planned demolition of 203 mature trees and effects on fauna.
All submissions, plus Tony Davidson, who has lived directly across the road from the proposed site for 30 years, called for the solar farm to be pushed further back from the Monaro Highway.
Elementus Energy managing director Ashleigh Antflick said the company had no knowledge of an asbestos dump on the site and there was no record on the ACT Register of Contaminated Sites.
Land Development Agency chief executive David Dawes said the proposed site would be securely fenced to prevent unauthorised access.
