Queensland’s 2011 Weather Events.

Waste Industry Observations

D ll C b ttDarrell Corbett

Darrell.corbett@jjrichards.com.au

Association StatisticsWCRAQ Member Statistics Members assets and investments in QLD exceed $ 2 Billion

Members contribution to Queensland’s economy exceeds $ 1 Billion pa y p

Directly employ more than 6,500 Queenslander’s (excluding contractors which can multiply a factor of up to 4 in some cases)contractors which can multiply a factor of up to 4 in some cases).

Members collect, transport, manage, recycle, reprocess, recover, export manufacture locally burn for energy recovery and landfill inexport, manufacture locally, burn for energy recovery, and landfill in excess of 6.5 million tonnes annually

Queensland’s Weather Eventso December 2010 – Significant events in 107 locations

(wettest month on record)(wettest month on record)

o December 24 – Monsoonal trough brought rain from Weipa to Tweed RiverWeipa to Tweed River

o Cyclone Tasha Cat 1 – 25 December

o Tasha’s tail – 26 December to 14 January

o Toowoomba – 10 January micro burst and inlando Toowoomba 10 January micro burst and inland tsunami, impacted Lockyer then Brisbane region

o Cyclone Anthony Cat 2 – 31 Januaryo Cyclone Anthony Cat 2 – 31 January

o Cyclone Yasi Cat 5- 5 February

On Ground Eventso Fitzroy River Basin Flood – Theodore, Rockhamptono Burnett River Basin Flood – Gayndah, Bundabergo Burnett River Basin Flood Gayndah, Bundabergo Condamine/Balonne Basin Flood – Chinchilla, Dalby, Warwick, St

Georgeo Mary River Basin Flood – Gympie, Maryborougho Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley System – Helidon, Gatton, Grathamo Bremer River – Rosewood, Ispwicho Brisbane River Catchment – Brisbane Cityo Coastal Cape Communities – Cooktown, Cairns, Tully, Townsvilleo Tablelands – Mareeba

G lf C t Mt I Ch t To Gulf Country – Mt Isa, Charters Towers

Human Toll 35 DeathsHuman Toll 35 Deaths

On Ground EventsOn Ground Events

Cleaning up the devastation

Cyclones impacts

Central QueenslandQ Mobilised standard industry emergency plans

Emerald and Blackwater became inaccessible. Woolworths (Blackwater) became a health hazzard. (waste

fl i d lt t i t i b ioverflowing and resultant vermin entering business premises). Vehicle’s became cut off. Assets had to be shared ie Sita did TPI jobsshared ie Sita did TPI jobs

Industry maintained normal waste services throughout the central mining areascentral mining areas

Service impactsService impactsDomestic Collections Mt M

Stopping floating binsMorganBoxing Day

Other Regions g 400,000 cubic metres of green waste was processed after Cyclone

YasiYasi

Emergency storages for 530,000 ltr of septic wastes from regions affected had to be found as WTP became inoperable

All major mining operations experienced residual waste problems

Needed to find alternate sites for regions heavily impacted by weather events. Required system changes to Blackwater, Broadlea, Broadmeadow, Goonyella Riverside, Ensham, Norwich Park , Oaky Creek, Rollestone, Saraji, , j

Waste from Emerald was transhipped > 900 kms to more secure facilities from the flood affected areas into SEQ.

Toowoomba micro burst - 4xvolume of Sydney Harbour fell in just 2 hrs

Lockyer Valley 3.16 pm

Same location 11 Minutes later - 3.27 pm

Another 7 Minutes later - 3.34 pm

In just 22 minutes at 3 38 pm theIn just 22 minutes at 3.38 pm the entire area was immersed by water

Industrial facility chaosIndustrial facility chaos

The main Toll distribution centre at Rocklea

TPI C&D plant submergedTPI C&D plant submerged

Queensland’s largest metal grecycler facility was submerged

Site had just undergone a $20 million upgrade

It was all about logistics:go WCRAQ prepared a matrix of available industry assets and capability

o (Needed to identify what surplus capacity the industry had available to ( y p p y ydeliver the equipment needs whilst maintaining normal business operations)

o Equipment capabilityo Equipment capabilityo Service capabilityo Engaged BCC and other councils directlyg g yo Members services allocated to grids of the affected areaso Specialist operator capability allocated to critical waste streamsp p p yo Members not impacted sourced additional assets from interstateo WCRAQ ensured Service Capability matched Equipment Capability

ObservationsObservationsQueensland legislation decrees disaster clean ups the responsibility of

Local Government

o LG’s plans were enacted but these only concentrated on households and streets / parks initially ( historical clean up protocols)

o Private sector not engaged until 4 days after the main event by which time many industry assets had been deployed

o Industry operators originally contacted for their capability were lefto Industry operators originally contacted for their capability were left waiting

o Industry had no understanding of EMQ’s priorities.y g p

o 7.30 am Saturday morning the system went into melt down

o Transfer stations filled, trucks lined up for hundreds of metres ato Transfer stations filled, trucks lined up for hundreds of metres at landfills all access points become gridlocked. Waste couldn’t be moved into or out of their points of generation

Critical Observations o Magnitude of the task grew by the hour

(Clean up was a secondary tier matter and industry had no(Clean up was a secondary tier matter and industry had no engagement with any Government Agency despite repeated offers of same)

o All existing Council plans failed to address a macro problem

o Industry assets were deployed on first in first served basis and became very stretchedbecame very stretched

o Assets had to be brought in from across Australia ie back up compactors, liquid tankers, IS cleaners, additional staff. p , q , ,

o Fatigue management became a critical service inhibitor for drivers

o Central comms point overruled sector / grid managers and truck pricing escalated for the same jobs

Recovery Stage Council and WCRAQ formalised a communications protocol

BCC contractors managed Councils assets

WCRAQ acted as the central point to deploy industry assets to critical service points

Single operators allocated specific areas and took ownership of these

WTS ti t t 24 h tiWTS operations went to 24 hr operations

Private Landfills went also to 24 hr operations

/ S fVeolia / JR Stephens – major food and critical waste manageme

TPI / Tox Free managed regulated / hazard wastes

Landfill’sLandfill s

Landfills worked up to 3 faces 24 hours day, catering to >1000 truck movements per day -7 days

Landfill logisticsLandfill logisticsAccepted > 140,000 c / m waste in 6 days with 24 hr ops

CCentral locations bulked out

Rocklea MarketsQueensland’s fresh food marketsRocklea MarketsSaturday afternoon 15 January

Queensland s fresh food marketsSaturday afternoon 15 January

M d i 17 JMonday morning 17 January

waste removed > 8,000 tonnes in 48 hrswaste removed 8,000 tonnes in 48 hrs

Commercial FreezersCommercial Freezers

Insurers walked from policy’s, businesses left to fend for themselves – Councils and WCRAQ members forced tothemselves Councils and WCRAQ members forced to undertake the clean up.

Buildings had to be made safeBuildings had to be made safe before waste could be removed

Waste in buildings became toxicWaste in buildings became toxic

F d t i t dFreezer rooms decontaminated

Govt incurred all charges for the industrial waste clean up Insurers took limited responsibility

Liquid WasteLiquid Wasteo Water treatment plants impacted by floodwaters

and power outages affected the treatment ofand power outages affected the treatment of liquid waste

o Liquid waste management / sludge’s became a major issue in terms of logistics and equipment availability the further the clean up event went

o Liquid waste sludge’s remained an ongoingo Liquid waste sludge s remained an ongoing issue for a very long time- several months

o No priority given for asset deployment

Liquid and sludge wastes went to composters

One facility accepted > 350,000 litres in 5 day’sOne facility accepted 350,000 litres in 5 day sOperations went 24 hrs as WTP’s remained off line

Insurance MadnessInsurance Madness

Geo Fabric deposited at LandfillGeo Fabric deposited at Landfill

Hazardous Chemical Waste

Industry LessonsIndustry Lessons( ) Must have statewide (split by regions) crisis waste

management plans to deal with all forms of waste to manage manmade, natural disaster or any bio security incidentsmanmade, natural disaster or any bio security incidents

Waste issues must be factored into all central communications and emergency management crisis control g y gprotocols

Industry LessonsIndustry Lessonso The assumption Council’s would undertake

cleanups as they have historically done led to major system failures

Industry LessonsIndustry Lessonso Crisis plans must address post event facility

license and DA impacts?

Industry LessonsIndustry Lessonso Temporary holding and bulk waste locations should be

identified in all cities to manage initial material flows

Industry LessonsIndustry Lessonso HH Hazardous waste clean up programs shouldo HH Hazardous waste clean up programs should

be conducted annually ( Qld pre summer)

Industry LessonsIndustry LessonsEstablish central registers for critical food distribution points ( fresh and freezer) animal processing / feedlots chemical( fresh and freezer), animal processing / feedlots, chemical processing as well as other critical industries community relies upon should be maintained and crisis clean up post event systems documented

12 months later12 months later

o Flood Commission draft report failed to acknowledge waste as an issuep g

o Government Agency committees established post event have ignored waste as an area for attention

o Environment Agency focussed only on waterway’s and eco systems

o Brisbane City Council is the only Council that has enacted a thorough review and has worked directly with industry to scope thisreview and has worked directly with industry to scope this

o Queensland still has no Crisis Plan in place to manage critical events and how it deals with waste in the context of these

Will it happen all over again without change…ABSOLUTELY