The Cleanaway New Chum Landfill is located within a zoned industrial precinct on the site of a former coalmine in the Ipswich suburb of New Chum and has been operating since 1998.

The site services the demolition, construction and industrial markets within South East Queensland and Northern NSW. It is licenced (and regulated) by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) to accept inert waste streams, including construction waste, industrial waste and various contaminated soils.

New Chum flood remediation

The New Chum Landfill site was affected by the February 2022 floods that also impacted large parts of South East Queensland.

The flood overwhelmed our normal drainage system, which led to large volumes of water mixing with waste on site. This mixture has become anaerobic through fermentation, leading to a strong odour in the area.

Since the floods, our teams have been working hard to address the odour issues and return the site to full operations. While the recovery efforts are underway, the site is closed and not accepting any new material.

Recent daily updates

For information on the New Chum flood remediation, call the hotline on 1800 319 815.

New Chum Flood Remediation Community Reference group (CRG) membership EOI

As part of our flood remediation activities, we are establishing a New Chum Flood Remediation Community Reference Group (CRG). We acknowledge the impact the recent flood remediation activities and odour has had on our neighbours and local community, as such we want to work with you to make it better.

We are seeking members from the local community to help inform both the broader community and our New Chum flood remediation program through the establishment of a CRG.

As a member of the CRG you will be asked to:

• Have open conversations with us on the flood remediation activities;
• facilitate and input into the community awareness
• help input into CLEANAWAY’s decision making process regarding the flood remediation.
• assist with the development of a Community Benefit Fund (CBF) for New Chum
• Help raise awareness of the flood remediation efforts and the CBF.

If you would like to lodge an expression of interest, please submit your application by Wednesday 23 June 2022 via the link below.

Submit your application

Odour monitoring

Testing carried out by both Cleanaway and DES shows that the odour is not a health risk to our residential neighbours. However, this does not mean it is acceptable.

The site team are working collaboratively with DES who are undertaking regular air quality monitoring and site visits to ensure the odour issues are resolved as quickly as possible while minimising community impacts.

With significant rain events forecast to continue over the coming months, we remain acutely focused on managing increases in stormwater into site as well as the effective and efficient treatment and removal from site.

We are using our own trucks in addition to engaging third party contractor trucks to help expedite removal of excess water from the site. The water is being removed in accordance with a DES direction and under a contract with Urban Utilities using established procedures and protocols and prioritising safety and environmental protection.

As water levels onsite continue to drop, sludge at the bottom of the pond is being exposed, releasing hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg gas). Water on site continues to be treated with chemicals to minimise odour. The sediment will be treated as it is uncovered, and the waste mass is being covered with further soil material to reduce odour. DES is actively monitoring the levels of hydrogen sulphide in the community, with the air monitoring results being updated regularly on their website.

We are firmly focused on treating the issues on site and ultimately getting life back to normal for the local community. The main task now is removing contaminated water from the site.

Cleanaway and contractor trucks are currently taking the water to an Urban Utilities sewerage treatment plant (STP) and Cleanaway’s Yatala water treatment plant for treatment and proper disposal.

Trucking the water (estimated 57.7ML) is a slow process. In the meantime, we have been working on site to:

• Install several large-scale deodorisers; and
• Aerate and douse the body of water with appropriate chemicals to reduce the odour.

Heavy rain events throughout May made our job of getting rid of on-site water more challenging with water levels rising by over 30ML. The additional water took on site water levels to over 57.7ML, up from the 25ML that the site water levels had been reduced to at the start of May.

The team has continued to work seven days a week to address the issue. We have had up to 13 tankers working daily to all distribution points and had been making significant head way prior to the wet weather events in May. The team remains focused on removing, treating and dousing affected water and will continue to do so over the next month.