Residents take legal action

Vasse residents are taking legal action against the City of Busselton after a nearby decommissioned tip site contaminated their groundwater.
A site on Rendezvous Road operated as the Busselton Waste Facility – a class II landfill site – from the late 1960s to 2012, but was classified as contaminated and in need of remediation in 2017 after pollutants were found to be leaching into groundwater.
A group of property owners have now engaged a Perth-based legal firm and will be seeking compensation for loss and damages.
It is understood the issues relate to old methods of waste disposal dating back more than 70 years when no environmental standards were in effect.
In a statement released today, City chief executive Mike Archer said the City had complied with its groundwater testing obligations and was taking the issue “extremely seriously”.
“We have engaged leading environmental consultants to assist in the investigations and we continue to undertake a rigours monitoring program in strict accordance with regulatory guidelines,” he said.
“We are also working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure these legacy issues are dealt with in a timely and efficient manner.”
The City has been providing affected properties that rely on bore water with an alternative supply and restrictions have been in place in the use of shallow groundwater.
The City is continuing to monitor ground water quality from monitoring bores in an area to the north of the City’s Rendezvous Road waste transfer facility and expects to receive the test results of recent monitoring within the next three months.
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