Niddrie residents oppose toxic dump
By Chris Spindler
MELBOURNE — Hot on the heels of the victory against the proposed CSR toxic dump at Werribee, residents at Niddrie in Melbourne's west are opposing a proposed toxic dump in a disused quarry.
Around 1000 residents converged on the Spring Gully reserve on May 22 to protest against the dump. Many of the residents have their homes backing on to the old quarry.
The project would mean the destruction of Spring Gully reserve and the creek that runs through it, the only access to the quarry as all other sides are surrounded by homes.
A 1998 scientific study of the proposed dump states, "The failure of encasement technology for toxic industrial chemicals will result not just in the contamination of Niddrie Quarry and the proposed housing estate adjacent to it, but also Steele Creek, the Maribynong River, Port Phillip Bay and the communities using these resources".
Construction unions have pledged that no union labour will work on the proposed dump site and residents have pledged to set up a picket line at Spring Gully reserve to ensure that construction cannot begin.