A KEY business organisation and a leading conservation group have urged the community to get involved in discussion about waste 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, which are both represented on the core consultative committee that has earmarked eight sites in WA for waste treatment and disposal, issued a joint state-ment urging community involvement in the process. Following the 14-week public consultation period the committee will recommend three sites (one in each region) for establishing treatment precincts. The Conservation Council of WA and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA said there was a need to establish better treatment facilities within a broader framework of minimising hazardous waste generation and regulating hazardous waste more effectively. Conservation Coun-cil director Chris Tallentire said the conservation group supported the open and inclusive approach to seeking solutions being facilitated by the committee. “We also believe that this process offers the best chance of producing an environ-mentally- and socially-acceptable solution to a problem for which we must all accept responsibility,” Mr Tallentire said. “We are not endorsing any of the proposed sites at this stage and we are encouraging our affiliated groups to scrutinise them carefully and to raise any concerns that they may have.”
