A key business organisation and a leading conservation group have asked the community to get involved in discussion about watse treatment in Western Australia as the state government zeroes in on selecting several regional hazardous waste sites.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA and the Conservation Council of WA, who are both represented on the core consultative committee which has earmarked eight sites in WA for waste treatment and disposal, issued a joint statement urging community involvement in the process.
The full statement reads:
Peak Bodies Urge Involvement in New Phase of Hazwaste Initiative
Joint Statement by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA and the Conservation Council of WA
The State's peak environment movement and industry bodies are urging their members and other interested parties to become involved in the program to establish new and better hazardous waste treatment facilities in WA.
On 31 October 2005 the Core Consultative Committee on Waste (3C) placed eight potential sites (two each in the Pilbara and Goldfields, and four in the South West Region) for treatment precincts on public exhibition. The sites will be open for public comment until 17 February 2006.
Following the three and a half month public consultation period the 3C will recommend three sites (one in each region) for establishing treatment precincts.
The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA (CCI) have supported the 3C process since its inception. Both organisations recognise the need to establish better treatment facilities within a broader framework of minimising hazardous waste generation and regulating hazardous waste more effectively.
CCI chief executive, John Langoulant,said: "We acknowledge the overall management of hazardous wastes in WA has been an issue of concern, shared by many people in industry. We believe that the 3C program, which provides an open and fair process where all interested parties are given a opportunity to participate, offers the best chance of making progress."
Conservation Council Director, Chris Tallentire, said that the Council supported the open and inclusive approach to seeking solutions being facilitated by the 3C.
"We also believe that this process offers the best chance of producing an environmentally- and socially-acceptable solution to a problem for which we must all accept responsibility", he said. "We are not endorsing any of the proposed sites at this stage and we are encouraging our affiliated groups to scrutinize them carefully and to raise any concerns that they may have."
