It’s completely shocking that the Mondelez International Cadbury factory has discharged unacceptable levels of high strength industrial waste for weeks, disabling TasWater’s Cameron Bay Sewage Treatment Plant. Due to this international company’s failure to comply with Tasmania’s waste discharge regulations, untreated sewage is now leaking into Timtumili Minanya / the Derwent River, shutting down beaches along the coast.
For many, swimming at the beaches along Timtumili Minanya / the Derwent River with friends and family is a summer holiday tradition. It’s completely unforgiveable that this international company has effectively closed Hobart beaches just days before Christmas, putting greater Hobartians’ Christmas plans at risk.
An investigation must be undertaken into how Mondelez International was able to overwhelm this treatment plant, and the river downstream. Mondelez International has been spewing waste into the northern Hobart sewage treatment plant for weeks now, remaining non-compliant with regulations despite TasWater’s work with them.
How is it that this breach has taken so long to be made public by TasWater and Mondelez? The people of nipaluna / Hobart will rightly be asking how TasWater allowed this situation to escalate to the point where the treatment plant was completely disabled. Why they didn’t cease accepting Mondelez International’s waste before it completely shut down the plant is unclear.
It leaves questions unanswered as to whether procedures for the breach of waste discharge regulations are up to muster. These are the dire consequences for ordinary Tasmanians when EPA regulations for not complying to environmental standards are not enough to deter companies from polluting Hobart’s waterways.
Mondelez International are certainly accustomed to taking handouts from the Liberal Government, including millions of dollars for a chocolate fountain. They must pay back for the costs of bringing the sewage plant back online and cleaning up the Derwent.
