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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 835 asked in the Legislative Council on 14 August 2019 by Hon Dr Steve Thomas

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT LINK — SOIL CONTAMINATION

835. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the Minister for Transport:

I refer to soil excavated from the Forrestfield–Airport Link project, the answer to question without notice 738 asked by me on 6 August, and question without notice 771 asked by me on 7 August and answered on 8 August about FAL soil transported by the Public Transport Authority from 777 Abernethy Road, Forrestfield, to the Kenwick rail freight facility project.

(1) Was any consideration paid for the excess fill material contaminated with PFAS and transported from 777 Abernethy Road, Forrestfield, to be used as engineered backfill in the NorthLink project and the Kenwick rail freight facility project?

(2) If yes to (1), who were the parties involved in the transactions, and for how much?

(3) If no to (1), was the excess fill material provided free of charge; and, if no consideration was paid, on what basis is that material not waste?

(4) Was processing and/or transport of the excess fill material involved in the arrangements?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following information has been provided by the Minister for Transport.

(1)–(4) The PFAS levels being encountered by the Forrestfield–Airport Link project are comparable with the low levels present in soils in most urban areas around the world, including in Australia. Transfer of soil from one site to another is routinely undertaken on land development and infrastructure projects in Perth and around Australia. The Public Transport Authority contributed to transport of excess fill from the FAL project to the NorthLink project and the Kenwick rail freight facility project with the remaining balance paid for by the recipient.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation's factsheet ''Assessing whether material is waste'' provides guidance to persons in possession of material about determining whether it is waste. Regarding the use of excess fill from the FAL project at the Kenwick rail freight facility project site and the NorthLink project site, the PTA does not consider the soil to be waste as consideration was paid for the soil and the soil is wanted for use on another project. The PTA has informed DWER that soil excavated during construction of the Forrestfield–Airport Link will be used as engineered backfill at the Kenwick rail freight facility and the NorthLink project site.