A consumer body has come out in support of residents opposing a sanitary landfill project in Broga, near Semenyih, on the grounds that the proposed site lies in an environmentally-sensitive ecosystem.

In a 40-page comment based on the executive summary of the project's detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA), the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) questioned the soundness of locating the modern landfill in a water catchment area.

The comments were sent to the Department of Environment in Putrajaya on April 13.

The DEIA summary showed an intake point located approximately 24km downstream of Sungai Semenyih from the proposed landfill site, the main source of drinking water supply for millions in the Klang Valley.

The Selangor State Structure Plan Survey Report (2002-2020) prohibits the construction of any sewerage treatment plant or municipal waste landfill in or close to a catchment area.

According to the Draft Local Plan for Bangi-Semenyih-Kajang, the area earmarked for the landfill project is a forest reserve, thus activities unrelated to forestry or agriculture-based industries are strictly prohibited.

Impossible to check

In commenting on the DEIA, CAP president SM Mohd Idris doubted the ability to regulate what comes into the Broga landfill.

He questioned the standard of maintenance and enforcement of existing or proposed regulations, particularly the monitoring of the type of wastes that enter the landfill.

"Even if a landfill is carefully monitored, it is impossible to check every truckload or bag of waste."

Similarly, he said, it was impossible for landfill workers to visually assess the 3,000 tonnes of incoming waste daily to ensure that only permitted waste types are accepted for disposal.

He also said that the risks for landfills including state-of-the-art ones were uncertain.

"To site one with a life span of 15-20 years in a river basin is astounding and an insidious and erroneous decision by the state government."

Idris also noted that the main DEIA report was voluminous and too technical for the public, which defeats the purpose of getting public feedback.

He said the executive summary, which the public depends on, should be clear, factual, explicit and realistic in its descriptions of the proposed project.

"It should not speculate that certain requirements and measures are accomplished and thus come to a conclusion that an impact would be minimal, moderate, etc."

The DEIA, he added, should be an analysis of impacts and options instead of "a wishful thinking list". It accused the DEIA of being "vague and misleading".

Groundwater contamination

CAP has also adopted comments by a US-based environmental expert prepared based on a copy of the executive summary sent to him.

Dr Mark Chernaik, a staff scientist with US-based Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, said the site seemed unsuitable because it was within a floodplain.

He said most countries have laws and regulations stipulating the standard and the siting of landfills.

Groundwater contamination, he said, was the most common impact of poorly designed and badly operated landfills.

"It is important to detect groundwater contamination as soon as it occurs in order to implement preventive measures," he said in his seven-page feedback.

"For this reason, many countries have enacted regulations/standards applicable to municipal waste landfills that require groundwater monitoring."

He said an adequately designed system for monitoring groundwater quality was crucial, especially with the summary anticipating accidental leakages of leachates.

Chernaik said the likelihood or inevitability of such accidents provides more than enough reason for the government to instal an early detection system to carry out corrective measures.

Evaluating the proposed Broga landfill against related laws in the US, the environmental scientist stressed on the importance of giving top priority to appropriate laws and strict enforcement.

He also cautioned that without the operator's rigorous enforcement, hazardous wastes may find their way into the landfill.

"To prevent the risk of groundwater and surface water contamination, it is important to prevent rainfall runoff from entering the landfill," he said.

"This is of particular concern since portions of the landfill may be in "deeply incised valleys" that might receive copious amounts of rainfall run-odd during periods of heavy rain."

Broga is also the site for a proposed 1,500-tonne municipal waste thermal treatment plant which is pending DOE approval.

The RM1.5 billion proposal has been criticised by local residents and international anti-incinerator lobbyist on grounds that it is a health and environmental hazard, and imposes a huge financial burden on local resources.

Residents, who have to put up with media blackout for over two years, have initiated legal action against the government to stop the project.

The residents, led by the Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator protem action committee, have been lobbying the government to focus on alternative methods of waste management, including recycling and zero waste system.