30-year battle to ban the burn
1965: Waverley and Woollahra councils apply to build an incinerator in Botany Road, Waterloo. The City of Sydney Council refuses the application.
1966: The case goes to the Land and Valuation Court. The incinerator is approved.
1973: Incinerator opens.
1974: Residents demonstrate against odour, dust and air pollution. South Sydney Council seeks injunction against owners. State Pollution Control Commission (SPCC) orders plant closed by November 1974.
March 1975: Plant shut down. Major overhaul follows. Reopened in July 1976.
1989: Tests show dioxins in stack emissions 30 to 60 times acceptable world standards. Public outrage follows.
1990: SPCC tells the owner councils that there is no threat to public health or the environment. Zetland Community Action Group (ZCAG) launches campaign to close incinerator. State government refuses to meet with residents.
1992: Further tests show dioxin levels 27 to 153 times overseas standards. August: Greenpeace blockades incinerator for 24 hours. Liberal environment minister agrees to allow incinerator to keep burning, in return for a major upgrade to meet German dioxin emission standards.
April 1993: Owner councils set up Community Liaison Committee, backed by public relations, to generate community support for incinerator upgrade. July: owner councils begin environmental impact statement process for new, "upgraded" incinerator. August: Department of Planning announces Green Square Strategy for up to 30,000 new residents in model urban village on old industrial land just east of the incinerator.
September 1994: South Sydney Council and ZCAG launch major campaign to close incinerator. November: Greenpeace and ZCAG establish "dioxin hospital" on incinerator grounds. Community Liaison Committee abandoned.
March 1995: New state Labor government elected. Environment minister Pam Allan promises to phase out incinerator. June: Allan establishes the Eastern Suburbs Waste Management Inquiry. Owner councils continue to push for upgrade. December: Inquiry reports that alternative waste management methods exist and the incinerator should be shut within two years.
1996: EPA declares incinerator ash hazardous. The ash is then sent to landfill in western Sydney. Internal reports reveal that the incinerator is in a state of virtual collapse and needs $2.5 million in urgent repairs. May: Tenders lapse for the upgrade of the incinerator. The owner councils abandon their upgrade process. August: before August 13 deadline for expiry of operating licence, Allan announces her intention to close the plant. EPA director general extends the licence and re-raises idea of upgrade.