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Sep. 12th, 2008 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maggies_lensld Sun:
It stinks in Cranbourne with methane gas leak
HUNDREDS of Cranbourne residents could be homeless for at least a year after authorities pleaded with them to flee because of explosive levels of methane gas in a neighbouring landfill.
Panicked families, their homes now potentially worthless time-bombs, also fear for their children's health. And some furious residents plan to seek millions of dollars in compensation after being sold land beside a potentially deadly gas field.
VCAT,
The State Government last night announced $1000 assistance packages for each family to leave their homes.
Residents from the 800-lot Brookland Greens Estate were told to evacuate after CFA chief officer Russell Rees warned there was a "very real risk" of an explosion because of methane gas leaking from the former
But many residents say they have nowhere else to go.
"We can't just tell everyone to pack up and go," Mr Rees said.
"Residents need to make a decision, because some homes have had no methane readings. Relocating is the safest option."
One home had methane levels at 60 per cent -- 12 times the level at which explosions can occur.
Retired couple Eddie and Sylvia Laing said they were first urged to move out for three days while the gas was cleared. Mr Laing said they had bought the home nine months ago as a nest egg.
"Now they said, if you smoke, don't light up," Mr Laing said.
Resident Jo Kupisz, who is seven months pregnant, was in tears, worried about her unborn child's health.
"I work with people who have disabilities and the thought of that is absolutely with me. And disability is for a lifetime," she said.
" You don't know if you are safe or unsafe."
Environment Protection Authority chairman Mick Bourke said it had been monitoring methane gas levels in the estate for eight months. Emergency status was reached when the very high threshold of 60-65 per cent was found.
Methane gas, which has travelled through the soil to the estate, can cause asphyxiation because of oxygen depletion.
Mr Bourke said international experts were advising about how to effectively plug the gas using special barriers, but it would take at least a year to fix.
He said it was not known how far the gas had spread, but neighbouring areas would be tested.
Real estate agents have warned that residents face substantial losses.
"In the short term, I wouldn't want to be selling," LJ Hooker agent Graeme Dimsey said.
"You would have to wonder if it would even be legal to sell. It's pretty hard to ascertain how bad this situation is until we get some clear cut answers.
"We still don't know if it's really affecting the whole estate, or just a few streets."
Rain and Horne sales consultant Leigh Evans said buyers would be hard to find.
"If this is a real problem, then residents need to be compensated so they can get out," he said.
"It's not their fault the planning process was stuffed up.
"If they are being told their house could probably blow up, who is going to want to buy it?"
Resident Graeme Hiam said there would be a "certain stigma" forever associated with the estate.
"Even if it gets the all-clear, people wouldn't want to build or buy," Mr Hiam said.
Lawyers from Slater and Gordon have talked to residents about a class action.
Casey council and the EPA opposed the development being built so close to the former landfill site, which closed in 2005. But the objection was overturned at VCAT.
Developer Peet and Company blamed Casey Council.
"Peet has been advocating on behalf of residents for approximately two years, urging council to improve the management of the site to eliminate the risk of gas leaching from the site," managing director Brendan Gore said.
Premier John Brumby rejected criticism of the decision to develop the site.
"This was a matter which was approved by VCAT some time ago. All of those issues have been examined," he said.
"What's occurred is there has been a migration of gas. All of these will be matters that are under active examination . . . over the next little while."
The State Government has offered a $3 million grant to the EPA and Casey Council to fast-track the hunt for a solution.
But Cranbourne resident Jodie Gilmore, who had lived in the area for 12 months, said that was not good enough.
She demanded to know why the developer was allowed to build on a potentially explosive site.
"I was told nothing. Why was I allowed to buy my $140,000 block of land to find now it might be worth nothing?" Ms Gilmore said.
"What harm is it doing even to have the kids outside? Is it safe for my kids?"
- Brigid O'Connell, Matt Johnston and Aaron Langmaid
Cranbourne families fume at deadly methane gas crisis
THERE were three of them on the roof, placing the tiles on what looks like being a very nice family home - one day.
One more Australian dream home joining the hundreds that have already gone up at Brookland Greens in Cranbourne yesterday.
And, like all the other homes before it, the work was being done with strict regard for the letter of the law.
The appropriate permits were posted, safety rails clamped to the eaves, orange vests all round -- all the little precautions aimed at making sure accidents don't happen.
Pity there are no such safeguards against the bigger worries -- like the fear, confusion and open-mouthed astonishment at the news that scores of homes may have to be abandoned because of toxic gases rising from the old landfill just down the street.
You just wonder how this can happen.
"How did they ever get permission to build here?" said resident Michael Stone, who had pulled over in his family-size SUV to share the news with neighbour Angie Taylor.
She had information to trade.
"The council said no, but VCAT overruled them -- least that's what they say on the radio," Angie replied, adding that tests had found not a trace of methane under her own home.
Her house is at the end of
Out of sight doesn't mean out of mind, though, and the two neighbours, like pretty much everyone else, were comparing notes and trying to make sense of something that defied common sense.
"It cost us an extra $8000 for the slab under our home because of the regulations, things like compaction certificates," Mr Stone said.
"Who was looking after the big things? Who signed off building homes here in the first place. That's what we all want to know."
At the information tent set up in the park near the estate's entrance, similar conversations took place all day.
"Methane is dangerous because it can be explosive in sufficient concentrations, and there is the risk of asphyxiation in a closed area," a little guy in a blue EPA sweater was saying.
In mid-sentence he stopped and ordered two reporters out of the tent, insisting their presence would panic residents.
This from a bloke who had just told a pair of middle-aged women that some residents might be living in brick-veneer time bombs.
The women flashed each other looks of alarm and confusion. And who can blame them, on a day when bafflement was everywhere?
There seemed no adequate explanation for anything.
A simmering, fearful resentment was in evidence everywhere – as obvious as the kids' bikes in every second driveway.
It's a nice place, Brookland Greens, with its mix of modern homes and Federation-style McMansions on the higher ground. The local school gets good reviews, the traffic is light, the front yards testify to civic pride.
"This was going to be our last home, our little nest," said retired horse trainer Eddie Laing, who moved into Powerscout Retreat just nine months ago with wife Sylvia.
"We don't know where we're going, how long we can stay, or who is going to give us back the money we paid for this place."
Two Sundays ago, the couple were ordered out for three days when tests found high methane concentrations under the floor.
"At the time, they didn't tell us what the levels were.
"Now I read this," he said, brandishing a news bulletin distributed to residents, "and I find out we must be the house they're talking about, the one with the 60 per cent gas reading.
"No wonder the bloke said it was good thing that we don't smoke. Now I wonder every time Syl lights the gas on the stove.
"Someone has to explain how a catastrophe like this came about."
Son Robbie, also a trainer, wants answers too.
"It's like Mum and Dad are living next to Vesuvius."
Cranbourne mum fears for unborn child
RESIDENTS told to flee their homes because of explosive gas say they feared for their children's lives.
And furious families said they couldn't believe they were not warned against buying homes in a dangerous area, and that their homes would now be worth nothing.
Jo Kupisz, who lives about 400m from the landfill site that is oozing methane, was in tears when told her home was in the explosion-risk zone.
But she said her greatest fear was for her unborn child.
"I'm seven months pregnant. When I asked about (the threat) I was given a leaflet saying cancer and birth defects are unknown and we were told to go to a doctor," Ms Kupisz said.
"You don't know if you are safe or unsafe. I work with people with disabilities and the thought of that is absolutely with me. And disability is for a lifetime."
A community fact sheet from the Department of Human Services told Ms Kupisz the health risks from methane gas included dizziness, headache, confusion, "eventually progressing to lack of consciousness or death".
Brookland Greens Estate residents Eddie and Sylvia Laing were evacuated after methane gas levels of about 60 per cent -- about 12 times the level at which explosions can occur -- were found in their home.
They stayed at a nearby hotel for three nights before being allowed back. But they were never told how much gas was there, and what the risks were, Mr Laing said.
Mr Laing said he had experienced headaches for the first time about a month ago, and his wife Sylvia had been falling asleep during the day, which she had never done before.
Christine Elliot said she worried about her two children and would consider seeking compensation if their home's value was affected.
She said it was unlikely anyone would buy in the area once the news that it was potentially explosive became known.
David Rolfe said residents didn't know what to do, and it was unforgivable that his family could have unknowingly been at risk for years.
"You could be sitting in a bath of methane gas, and how would you know? That's what we asked them, but they can't tell us," Mr Rolfe said.
He said flares had been positioned in the landfill and they often went off when a pocket of methane gas erupted from the site.
Leanne Roach, who has a four-month-old son, said evacuating would be like "running away from the side of a volcano".
"You don't know if it's going to explode or if it's dormant, but it seems that they know more about volcanoes than this," Ms Roach said.
Ward councillor Kevin Broadford lives next to the landfill and is concerned.
He said the council had invested about $5 million in battling methane, but that hadn't been sufficient.
THIS FROM THE AGE:
Leaking gas puts estate in explosive situation
- Kate Lahey
Residents of Brookland Greens estate in Cranbourne, including Caroline and Ray Clover, are worried about their safety. Photo: Craig Abraham
HUNDREDS of residents in a Cranbourne housing estate were last night facing an agonising choice between leaving their homes or staying as flammable gas leaks from a nearby tip.
The Country Fire Authority told families in the Brookland Greens estate that their safest option was to leave, but no one could say when it would be safe to return.
Country Fire Authority deputy chief Steve Warrington warned an angry crowd of more than 500 of the risks of the gas leak.
"There is a very real risk in this estate of gas in concentration levels sufficient to cause an explosion," he said. "The only sure way to eliminate this risk is for residents to relocate."
He warned that gas discovered in stormwater drains was at a higher concentration than that required to cause an explosion, but added: "You're not going to walk down the street, light a cigarette and blow up."
Paul Dyer, who bought a property in the estate three months ago for $550,000 and is yet to settle, was angry he learnt about the leak from the news.
"This isn't something that's going to go away in 10 years," he said. "It's going to have a huge impact on the value of our property. If they knew about this prior to our signing then we'll definitely look to get out of the contract."
The Environment Protection Authority says it could take about a year for the methane gas created in a nearby landfill site to be captured and destroyed.
Residents are considering suing Casey Council, which has spent $4 million trying to stop the gas leaking into homes. It would not comment yesterday, referring questions to the CFA.
Developer Peet Ltd said the council had approved construction on the site from 1999, but opposed development of the area of the estate bordering the landfill. That opposition was overruled by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2004.
Slater and Gordon lawyer Ben Hardwick said five home owners had contacted the firm seeking legal advice on a class action. Mr Hardwick said the VCAT decision had reduced the standard buffer distance between residential properties and landfill sites from 500 to 200 metres. "The consequences of that decision are now being realised," he said.
The State Government said yesterday it would give the EPA $3 million to help the council reduce the risk to residents.
Between 40 and 50 of the 250 homes are being monitored for methane, according to the CFA.
In a confined space, methane becomes explosive when it forms between 5% and 15% of the mixture with air, CFA chief officer Russell Rees said. At much higher levels it could be suffocating, he said.
"It displaces oxygen and the end result is you don't die of methane poisoning, you actually die of oxygen depletion."
Detection equipment across the estate had found methane levels of up to 65% in one home last week, Mr Rees said.
"The explosive condition and risk exists. The safest option is for people to relocate," he said.
Asked about the site itself, Mr Rees said: "The logic says that we should not have an environment where you've got this happening." He said monitoring would be increased to determine where the gas was spreading. EPA chairman Mick Bourke said the agency had been working to manage the gas since it emerged in 2006, soon after the landfill was capped with a metre of clay.
At a local meeting last night, Casey Council environmental team leader Michael Jansen said the gas levels had surprised the council.
"Eighteen months ago we didn't expect it to get to this level," he said. "The gas will be produced on the site for 30 years. But the infrastructure being put in place will be designed to take the gas out."
Methane was created by the biological degradation of the waste, he said. "We've got something like 1300 cubic metres of methane being generated each hour, and probably about a couple of hundred cubic metres of that each hour is finding its way to the environment and at times into Brookland Greens estate."
Casey councillor Kevin Bradford lives on the boundary of the landfill site with his wife and four children aged under 12. Late yesterday, he was still to decide whether to stay in his home or leave. He said he was unable to get advice on whether he would ever be able to return. "That's the million-dollar question," Cr Bradford said.
The Cranbourne landfill operated between June 1996 and June 2005 as a tip for the Casey and Frankston councils under an EPA licence. According to the EPA, the landfill was not lined, so there is no impermeable barrier between the waste and soil.
Peet Ltd issued a statement late yesterday saying it "has been advocating on behalf of residents for approximately two years, urging the council to improve the management of the site to eliminate the risk of gas leaching".
Premier John Brumby said the council was responsible for management of the landfill site.
With JASON DOWLING, MEX COOPER and CAMERON HOUSTON
Estate residents in fear of landfill
- Carolyn Webb
RESIDENTS of Brookland Greens housing estate in Cranbourne are feeling angry, shocked and anxious. Perhaps a natural reaction to the news that leaking gas from the landfill next door could cause explosions.
Locals flocking to an information marquee in
Caroline Clover, who lives in nearby
People who bought or built mansions for $500,000 a few years ago feared the environmental woes might devalue them to $100,000, or less.
"People are angry," Mrs Clover said. "We pay a lot of money to live here; the rates are triple those in other parts of Cranbourne. We've had EPA walking around daily saying it's under control and they come and test your house and they say it's fine, and then people were ringing me this morning saying 400 people would be evacuated; I'd heard nothing about it. And that's frightening."
Another resident, Christine, bought her
A resident who gave his name only as
Residents had met council officers six months after he moved in, "and they said they were working on it". Asked if he was angry now, he said, "Of course. The value of my place has just disappeared, hasn't it?"
Donna Canning, of the street Merion Vista, was angry that local councillors or MPs had not faced residents at the marquee.
