Fears of toxic contamination in a major Brisbane waterway
For more than 30 years Gary Halliwell has been wracked with worry over what was dumped underground when he worked at the old Willawong toxic waste site.
"There's stuff buried there what I think, in my own opinion is ... it's a danger to people,"said Gary.
The former manager says protocols were often breached.
"I'd say to the chemist no that can't be buried, he'd say 'yes it can be'," he said.
In the 1970s he was told to dig pits for trucks that would dump waste during the night.
Workers were never told what it was.
"We did notice that the trucks that came in with that waste would come from New South Wales, they had New South Wales plates on them," said Gary Halliwell.
Brisbane Council has spent more than $60m rehabilitating the land by capping the waste.
But Gary says after heavy rain sludge still seeps from the site, "You see dirty smelly stinky black liquid coming out of the ground."
Gary's joined other residents concerned over Stockland's plans to build a major housing development just metres away.
"The only thing virtually separating that quite a large block of toxic land is a chainwire fence and a bitumen road," said resident Glenn Williamson.
A 1982 commonwealth government inquiry found "…hazardous leachate will continue to enter the surrounding waterways and groundwater even if the site were closed … much of the waste would remain toxic for several hundred years."
An independent report found 20,000 litres of contaminants from the site are leaching into the water table every month.
They find their way to Oxley Creek, which this week failed a healthy waterways test.
The proposed homes would also be near a medical waste incinerator.
Council has approved the estate but the developer is fighting how far away it has to be from the emissions.
"Those conditions around the approval have been challenged and that's now a matter for the courts to determine," said Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk.
Nearby residents say the site should be treated as though it's still toxic.
"Somebody's got to get some brains and say we're not going to build on that land ever," said Gary Halliwell.
