Woodlawn Eco Precinct

Woodlawn Eco Precinct

The Woodlawn Eco Precinct is Veolia’s 6,000ha site located approximately 50km north of Canberra and comprises several facilities, including:

  • Bioreactor landfill - a municipal solid waste landfill in which liquids are added to help bacteria break down the waste, actively capturing and extracting gas to recover energy. To date, 8.5 million tonnes of waste have been safely processed
  • BioEnergy plant -  recovering clean energy generated by the waste in the Bioreactor. 
  • Agriculture - incorporating a working farm that applies nutrient and grazing rotation to help sustainably manage the site.
  • Aquaculture and horticulture -  capturing waste heat from energy production and using it for sustainable fish farming and hydroponic horticulture. 3600 kg of fish are produced annually and sold to the Canberra restaurant market
  • Mechanical and Biological Treatment - (MBT) extracting organic content from the waste to produce compost for environmental rehabilitation. 
  • Wind Farm - (operated by Infigen Energy) that harnesses 48.3 megawatts of clean energy per year.
  • Solar Farm-  utilising increased sun exposure from cleared land to produce 2.5 megawatts of clean energy per year.

Community Updates:

Meeting Minutes 

You can now read through our 2023 August meeting minutes by scrolling to the below and selecting CLC Charter & Meeting Minutes

New Operational Hours at Crisps Creek IMF

Veolia wishes to notify the Tarago Community that the NSW EPA has amended the Environment Protection Licence (EPL 11455) for the Crisps Creek IMF to reflect the operating hours prescribed in Condition 97 of the Development Consent DA 31-02-99 and Schedule 5 and Condition 17 of the Project Approval MP 10_0012 for the premises which now permits operational activities at the premises including road haulage to be conducted between 6:00 am to 10:00 pm on Mondays to Saturdays, with no activities on Sundays, Good Friday or Christmas Day without prior written approval by the EPA.

Provide feedback to the Community Liaison Committee

The Woodlawn Community Liaison Committee (CLC) is a voluntary group of representatives who work to ensure the views and values of their community members are being taken into consideration for the operations at the Woodlawn Eco Precinct. The group meets once a quarter at the Precinct to listen to operational updates and share feedback from the community for Veolia to take into consideration. 

We value community participation, and are always looking for ways to improve our involvement with local residents. If you have a question or feedback you'd like to be raised at the next CLC meeting, please fill out this form

Contact our team

To provide feedback or talk to a member of the team please call 1800 241 750 during business hours, or 0427 319 881 after hours. You can also email us at [email protected] or complete the feedback form below. 

 

Veolia takes environmental compliance extremely seriously and works closely with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to resolve any matters that arise. You can read more about this on the EPA's website here.

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Contact Details

Action

CLC Charter & Meeting Minutes

Community Liaison Committee Charter 2022

 

Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes

  1. 2023 August Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  2. 2023 April Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  3. 2022 September Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  4. 2022 June Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  5. 2022 March Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  6. 2021 December Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  7. 2021 September Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  8. 2021 June Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  9. 2021 March Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  10. 2020 November Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  11. 2020 August Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  12. 2020 June: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  13. 2020 Feb: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  14. 2019 June: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  15. 2018 May: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  16. 2018 February: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  17. 2017 November: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  18. 2017 August: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes 
  19. 2017 May: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  20. 2017 February: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  21. 2016 September: Community Liaison Meeting Minutes
  22. ​2016 April: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  23. 2015 December: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes
  24.    2015 September: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  25.    2015 March: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  26.    2015 January: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  27.    2014 September: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  28.    2014 June: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  29.    2014 March: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  30.    2013 December: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  31.    2013 September: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  32.    2013 June: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 
  33.    2013 March: Community Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes 

Woodlawn Community Newsletters

Woodlawn Complaints Register

 

  1. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 29 September 2023
  2. Woodlawn Eco-precinct Complaints Register 25 September 2023
  3. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register  12 September 2023
  4. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 30 August 2023
  5. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 23 August 2023
  6. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 16 August 2023
  7. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 2 August 2023
  8. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 26 July 2023
  9. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 20 July 2023 
  10. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 5 July 2023 
  11. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 30 June 2023
  12. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register 21 June 2023
  13. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register 14 June 2023
  14. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register May 2023
  15. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register May 2023
  16. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register May 2023
  17. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register May 2023
  18. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register April 2023
  19. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register April 2023
  20. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register April 2023
  21. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register April 2023
  22. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register March 2023
  23. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register March 2023
  24. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register March 2023
  25. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register February 2023
  26. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register January 2023

 

  1. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register December 2022
  2. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register December 2022
  3. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register November 2022
  4. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register November 2022
  5. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register October 2022
  6. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register September 2022
  7. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register September 2022
  8. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register August 2022
  9. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register August 2022
  10. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register August 2022
  11. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register August 2022
  12. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register July 2022
  13. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register July 2022
  14. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register July 2022
  15. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register July 2022
  16. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register July 2022
  17. Woodlawn Eco -Precinct Complaints Register June 2022
  18. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register May 2022
  19. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register April 
  20. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register Feb - Mar
  21. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register February 2022
  22. Woodlawn Eco-Precinct Complaints Register January 2022

H2S Monitoring

As part of our commitment to the community and New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA), Veolia has established an ambient air quality monitoring surveillance system designed to provide real-time feedback on the presence of hydrogen sulphide (H2S).  H2S is a colourless but odorous gas (with a rotten egg-like smell) that would be readily detectable by the majority of the Australian population at very low concentration levels.  To understand how good the human nose is at detecting H2S, Veolia received advice from a leading odour consulting company that indicated that the lowest detection threshold on record in Australia has been as low as 3 parts per billion (ppm) or 0.003 parts per million (ppm).  With this in mind, it is important to understand that many sources can release H2S, which can include human-made (anthropogenic) or natural (from the environment).  It is interesting to note that the human body is also a regular contributor of H2S release in the environment and that it is an essential material in many industrial processes.

 

To provide the community with feedback on the ambient H2S levels in the local area, Veolia has installed multiple AcrulogTM units to regularly monitor the presence and concentration levels.  The Acrulog units are sourced from an Australian company that specialises in portable wireless environmental gas data loggers.  The Acrulog units set up in the local community are highly specialised instruments designed to specifically target and measure H2S within a measurement range of 0-2,000 ppb or 0-2 ppm.  The effectiveness of these units at targeting H2S at this very low range has meant that it is regularly adopted by government authorities, consultants, and private industries as an environmental management tool. 

 

To obtain a better understanding as to how low these concentration levels are in practice, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicates that the time-weighted average (TWA) over 8 hours (that is, the average time an individual will spend at work) for H2S in an occupational setting is 10,000 ppb or 10 ppm.  This is 3,334 times above the lowest detection limit by the human nose of an average person in Australia (3 ppb or 0.003 ppm).  By comparison, the short-term exposure limit (STEL) the acceptable concentration level of H2S exposure in an occupational setting for 15 minutes - is 15,000 ppb or 15 ppm.  In other words, your nose is very good at picking up H2S at very low levels and well below the accepted limits published NIOSH.  Based on these accepted limits and the current state of knowledge, any H2S levels reported below the NIOSH values are not expected to result in a dose-response relationship that can lead to a physical human health impact risk – that is, values below these limits would be considered a safe place to work in an occupational setting.  With this in mind, the installed Acrulog units can detect H2S levels that are significantly below the safe work limits established by NIOSH, making them highly-sensitive instruments.

 

Given that there are many human-made and natural sources of H2S (such as vehicle transport, decaying vegetative matter, septic tanks, sewage, and aged garbage), a positive detection and concentration reading from the Acrulog units does not necessarily mean that our operations at the Woodlawn Eco-Precinct are the source.  To establish this connection, Veolia would require additional data, contextualisation, and the investigation and guidance of experts to establish such a connection.  Therefore, the feedback provided by the Acrulog units should be regarded as a tool to create an enhanced level of community awareness of H2S levels in the local area.  Veolia hopes this real-time ambient air quality monitoring surveillance system feedback page for H2S is beneficial to the community.

 

Locations

Veolia Eco-Precinct (Point 9)

Tarago Recreation Area (Point 71)

Tarago Showground (Point 72)

Other Reports

For other reports relating to the Woodlawn Bioreactor, please refer to our reports page