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- In short: Tasmania is struggling to deal with its industrial waste, challenging the clean green image the state has been promoting for decades
- What's next? Following waste from its source sheds light on a labyrinth of environmental, legal and government regulations, which some feel are being ignored
Every morning trucks like the one pictured below leave the Norske Skog paper mill, north of Hobart.
Full of paper-making by-product, they make a 20-minute drive up into the picturesque Plenty Valley to a property where the contents are unloaded and Jenkins Hire takes over.
Jenkins Hire makes compost at a nearby pad by mixing the paper waste with waste products from the salmon farming industry and treated sewage sludge from Tasmania's state-owned water and sewage utility TasWater.
However, much of what is brought here is dumped onto nearby paddocks owned by Timothy Jenkins, who runs Jenkins Hire, and his wife Susan.
Most of what is produced at the composting site also ends up being land-spread onto the paddocks.
If land-spreading is done thinly, evenly, and is properly aerated, the waste products make good compost and are considered low-risk to the environment.
But if waste material is stockpiled and the odorous materials are not allowed to dry, it can produce toxic leachate which then enters the soil.
Regulating a site like this would normally be a matter for the local council.
In this case, Tasmania's Environmental Protection Authority has seen fit to get involved.
"The concern … has been that it hasn't been properly managed in the past and that is why the EPA has had to step in," director Wes Ford said.
"It also, potentially, had concerns about water quality. And clearly the incident that occurred in September 2020 resulted in impacts on the Plenty River."
That incident involved the alleged spilling of hazardous materials from Jenkins Hire's land into the nearby Plenty River, killing more than 100,000 fish.
The company was charged with polluting the environment intentionally or recklessly, and storing controlled waste in a manner that was reasonably likely to escape into the environment.
That matter is currently before the courts.
Following routine inspections, which began after the 2020 fish kill, the Forest Practices Authority also charged Timothy and Susan Jenkins with allegedly clearing native vegetation without a permit.
That case is also before the courts.
Concerns about river health
Dr Fiona Beer moved to the Plenty Valley in early 2020 to take up a position as local GP.
She and several other community members were concerned about what was happening down the road and began lodging complaints prior to the fish kill.
"From the inside of the house you'd walk outside, and it'd smell like a sewerage tank here," she said.
On the other side of the Plenty River from where Dr Beer lives is Libby Cooper's property.
Her family has lived here for four generations and draws water from the Plenty River.
She's concerned that if any harmful leachate is produced by composting or land-spreading, it'll end up in the river upstream from her property.
"The topography of the land is naturally inclined to runoff towards the Plenty River," she said.
"We have a lack of confidence in the health of the river, and as someone who grew up swimming in the river, I'm not comfortable with my children swimming in the river."
The EPA has since issued an environmental protection notice prohibiting the spreading of waste on land which slopes towards the Plenty.
It is currently satisfied Jenkins Hire is operating at an appropriate standard.
Jenkins Hire didn't respond to the ABC's requests for an interview.
Frustration leads to fight back
While the EPA might be satisfied with what is happening at the site, many residents of the valley are not.
Last year when they felt their complaints to the EPA and local council weren't being acted on, Dr Beer started the Upper Plenty Action Group Incorporated (UPAGI).
Months later the group was invited on a tour of Jenkins Hire's composting pad by staff from the EPA and Derwent Valley Council to do a "smell test"'
She says what happened on the tour is indicative of why community members are frustrated.
While the EPA permit for the composting pad states "machinery capable of turning and mixing compost must be kept on-site at all times", Dr Beer said it was clear that had not been happening.
"When we went on the tour, the windrows had weeds growing on top of them, some of them taller than me, which makes me think they hadn't been turned for quite some time," Dr Beer said.
Another requirement of Jenkins Hire's composting permit states that a "site manager has to be in attendance at all times when the site is open" and "access to the site must be through a security gate that must be locked when the site is unattended".
When visiting the area with Dr Beer, the ABC filmed a truck carrying TasWater treated sewage waste arrive and the driver retrieve a key hidden under a rock to let themselves in.
Dr Beer said this was a regular occurrence.
"It's not uncommon for a UPAGI member to message me stating that a waste truck has let itself into the compost pad again unattended," Dr Beer said.
"We feel disillusioned that there is always a poor excuse for their [Jenkins Hire's] behaviour that is allowed to continue despite our concerns."
Tasmania not keeping up with waste problem
The EPA's Wes Ford said the volume of industrial waste produced in the past two decades had grown significantly, but the state's capacity to treat it had not.
There are only four sites that turn organic industrial waste into compost in Tasmania — Dulverton Waste Management in Devonport and the City of Launceston's Remount Road facility in the north.
In the south, it's Jenkins Hire and a site run by Barwick's at Interlaken in Tasmania's midlands.
The Interlaken site produces compost from TasWater effluent and fish farm waste and sells it through a subsidiary business, Pure Living Soil.
But it's not clear which companies contract their waste management out to Barwick's, as the company has signed a non-disclosure agreement.
In February, the EPA began an investigation after liquid waste was released from the Interlaken site onto neighbouring farmland.
It then placed a ban on the site receiving liquid waste and unmacerated fish, although that ban has since been lifted subject to conditions.
The EPA said the investigation was ongoing and wouldn't release further details, and the site's operator declined to speak to the ABC.
The temporary ban was considered strong action by the EPA, which is open about its reluctance to shut down these kinds of operations, in part, due to their scarcity.
"There are very few of these facilities, and if any one facility is completely shut down, it actually has massive implications across other businesses and the broader community," Wes Ford said.
"So, it's in everyone's interest that we work with these sites to be able to get them back onto a more secure environmental footing, even if we are in the process of prosecuting them."
The EPA's investigation team has recently expanded from two to seven, but Mr Ford said it would be preferable if the entities that produced the waste took a more active role in making sure it was dealt with properly.
"Management of all waste in Tasmania, like anywhere else, it's part of a chain."
"The companies that produce the waste need to find adequate solutions, and they need to invest in the management of those solutions."
Norske Skog, Salmon Tasmania, and TasWater all spruik the benefits of their waste materials being sent to composting facilities instead of landfill.
But when asked what they were doing to address concerns raised by the EPA, they all declined to be interviewed.
In a statement, Environment Minister Roger Jaensch acknowledged the state needed to expand its organic waste treatment capacity.
"Our government, with joint funding from the Australian government, has invested $12 million in two state-of-the-art composting facilities for Tasmania, one in the north and one in the south at Boyer.
"Our investment will go a long way to ensuring that Tasmania has contemporary composting facilities that not only ensure organic material is managed in an environmentally sustainable manner, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
The new facility at Boyer will be built next to Norske Skog and run by Barwick's, which also operates Interlaken, but no completion date has been provided.