Noosa's landfill impact monitoring a Queensland first

Noosa Council is breaking new ground in waste management with the way it monitors its landfill site for environmental impacts.

The new Receiving Environmental Monitoring Program (REMP) differs from traditional reporting arrangements, in that it considers Noosa-specific environmental values and downstream uses, such as irrigation and stock watering.

Council worked with regulator Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to modernise its monitoring arrangements following de-amalgamation.

“With the REMP system our monitoring and reporting looks for impacts specific to Noosa’s fauna and flora and downstream water uses,” says Environment Officer Cherie O’Sullivan.

“As well as provide better environmental outcomes the REMP has slashed unnecessary paperwork associated with standard or one-size-fits-all reporting arrangements.”

Noosa Council is the first local government in Queensland to design and apply a REMP to a municipal landfill.

“While two years’ worth of data is needed to fully confirm the results, the six months’ worth of data collected so far suggests our landfill is not harming any downstream users or wildlife, which is great news,” Miss O’Sullivan said.

18 May 2016