Rally against toxic waste dump

By Ben Courtice

MELBOURNE -- On August 31, 400 people rallied on the steps of parliament to meet a cavalcade of 40 farmers' tractors and trucks which had made its way in from the outlying suburb of Werribee.

The demonstration, called by Werribee Residents Against the Toxic Dump, was a protest against CSR's proposed toxic waste dump in their suburb.

The rally was also attended by protesters from the Friends of Steele Creek, who are campaigning against a contaminated landfill planned for a disused quarry in Niddrie.

Werribee residents are worried about the proximity of the dump to residential areas, with the threat of toxic fumes, accidents in transporting the waste and seepage of toxins into the water table.

Seepage would threaten the viability of the market gardens at Werribee South, where 60% of the state's vegetables are grown, and eventually contaminate the bay.

The rally organisers point out in an information leaflet that “it is acknowledged by experts that all landfills will leak sooner or later. A toxic dump of this kind will exist for hundreds of years -- CSR hopes to be gone by the time a serious leak occurs.”

Werribee Residents Against the Toxic Dump can be contacted on (03) 9741 5841.

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