The Truth Comes Out

[minnie]

Here's an article from the Canberra Times showing the absolute deceit of government this year, and now we really know 'What happened at Belconnen and why over 400 animals had to be killed in such a disgraceful manner. As the wildlife people said in the beginning it was all about housing and the kangaroo just surplus to the housing development needs.
================================================================
Revealed: toxic waste dump
BY ROSSLYN BEEBY - SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
27/09/2008 10:16:00 AM
Land earmarked for future housing development in Canberra's northern suburbs is heavily contaminated by toxic waste, with clean-up costs estimated to exceed $6 million, secret Defence reports reveal.

Two confidential reports issued in April and May this year show laboratory tests of soil and groundwater samples from the former Belconnen Naval Transmission Station identified 12 areas of concern across the 143ha military site.

Lead contamination of soils was 10 times the accepted safety levels prescribed by Australian and global guidelines in some places.

Other concerns include unsecured asbestos in abandoned demolition waste piles and high levels of cancer-causing dioxins in soils and groundwater. Nine heavy metal pollution hot spots were identified in one area, and high levels of heavy metals were found in Lake Ginninderra sediment and water samples.

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown described the findings as '' a scandal of government spin beyond credibility''.

''This is outrageous, and shows how divorced this government department is from the people whose lives will be affected by their assessment that housing can be built on contaminated land,'' he said.

''These bureaucrats and their spin doctors have decided the best course of action is not to tell people what's going on, and seem oblivious to the fact that people will eventually pay for this deceit with their lives.''

Despite documenting high pollution levels, the Defence reports recommend the Belconnen land can ''be considered suitable for the (sic) proposed residential development'' if contaminated soil, landfill and asbestos are removed. The reports, obtained under Freedom of Information by a local resident, detail the extent of contamination, and outline a clean-up plan to make the land safer for future housing developments.

They reveal Defence has been aware of the problem since 1985, and that a 1991 report called for a scientific assessment of the potential for pollutants at the former navy base to build up in native wildlife or people with frequent access to the site. The reports warn any public information including community consultations and ministerial briefings about the clean-up should be strictly controlled, stating ''no information is to be given out regarding the nature of the potential contaminants on the site.'' Consultants Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation, who prepared the reports, claim excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated material will yield maximum property value with option for sale of land parcels and minimise future liability for Defence as ''the polluter'' of the site.

The land, recently classified by Defence as surplus to requirements, caused a pre-election spat last year between ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries and ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope over its potential use. Senator Humphries promised the Coalition would sell 32ha for housing, with Mr Stanhope claiming he had established a ''business case'' for ACT ownership of the land. The ACT has previously denied it plans to develop the land for low-cost housing. But ACT Planning Authority documents obtained by The Canberra Times indicate the Government has at some stage considered the site in plans to expand the suburb of Lawson. A spokeswoman for ACT Planning Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT Planning and Land Authority has ''had an informal liaison meeting with Defence as part of its Lawson (Territory Land) Concept Planning Study and is aware that Defence has undertaken a range of studies over their land including the high conservation value grasslands.''

The Defence reports recommend excavating 6000 cubic metres in some areas, to a depth of at least 6m from a former rubbish dump at the site, as well as removing 900sqm of topsoil from grassland where federally protected plant and insect species occur.

It reveals groundwater is contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls, toxins that accumulate in the environment and have been linked to cancer, liver damage and immune and reproductive disorders. Petroleum hydrocarbons are leaking into soils and groundwater from disused underground fuel tanks that still ''contain product'' in several areas.

A spokesman for Federal Defence Secretary Mike Kelly confirmed yesterday his office was aware of the reports and was satisfied with recommendations on future use of the site for housing if remediation of the site was successful.

He said clean-up would begin within weeks, in preparation for disposal of the site, where eastern grey kangaroos were culled this year.

It has been assessed by Defence contractors for use as low-density housing and a recreational area. A Queanbeyan Wildcare spokeswoman said if Defence had approved University of NSW biologist Dr David Croft's proposal to move the kangaroos instead of culling them, health checks would have revealed pollutants.
================================================================

[Shadowgirlau]

Typical Government cover-up by the sounds of it.

I hope the media get a grip on this story and run further with it as it seems to stink with the smell of indifference to the value of either human or animal well being.

Low cost housing ay? So one assumes by this statement that people who can't afford a higher standard of living are of less value to society than those who either can or are rolling in it?
Of course we already know that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, has been this way for eons and I have never heard of a government "bailing out" an ordinary businessmans failing business though they frequently bail out multicorporations who just proceed to make the same mistakes time after time and whose directors continue to live the high life.

Shame on them! Shame on us too if we let this type of thing continue to happen. I have said many times over the years that we need to become more vocal in our beliefs.

Kathleen

[minnie]

At the time so many wildlife people were asking why are they killing them this way... the norm is to shoot and then send for pet food or these days human consumption but realising now the kangaroos would have been full of lead (and not just bullets) and other toxic things by giving them the needle they cover it up.

Now I hope people jump up and down about the endangered grasslands, the moth and the grasshopper that they said the roos were killed to protect!

It makes me absolutely sick, the length of lies and deceit government will go to meet someones greedy ends.

Vicki

[minnie]

And they wonder why some of us with something between the ears don't believe a word they say.

Here's the latest on the what's happening with the land that the Kangaroos were destroying the grasslands, a native moth and a native grasshopper.
==================================
Defence land set aside for housing
BY JOHN THISTLETON, BUSINESS EDITOR
30/04/2009 6:37:00 AM
A huge parcel of Defence land at Lawson controversially cleared last year of kangaroos and 19,000 tonnes of waste including asbestos can now be subdivided.

The 149ha Belconnen Communications Station in Baldwin Drive, including a heritage-listed transmitter building, has been placed on the Register of Surplus Commonwealth Land Potentially Suitable for Housing and Community Outcomes to be considered for ACT housing and community uses.

Colliers International said depending on density and how much was set aside for reserve the land would yield between 1100-1300 dwellings and would be worth between $80 million to $100million.

From the Canberra Times.
================================

And while this is now shown to the public most of who live in 'sound byte land' so wouldn't remember the issue. Now they're killing the next Defence land roos.
==================================
A cull of kangaroos on Defence land in Canberra has been halted by the ACT Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Tribunal president Linda Crebbin has ordered a stay to the cull of kangaroos at the Majura site until the issue can be considered by the tribunal's full panel.
She says she doubts a short delay in the kangaroo cull will affect any threatened species.
The Defence Department wants to cull a total of 7,000 kangaroos on the site and has already killed about 4,000.
The Department and the ACT Government say the cull is necessary to prevent overgrazing of native grasslands but Animal Liberation wants it stopped.
The matter will now be heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in June.
=====================================================

What's interesting about Majura is that bus loads of soldiers were seen leaving and some trying to hide their faces. It seems (no proof, but the truth eventually comes out) that our defence force may have been used to kill our kangaroos, on the coat of arms that they serve under!

Shame, shame, shame to all who support this.

Vicki

[Hayhay]

Far out! How absolutely appalling.

Low cost homes - so people who are already struggling financially can now struggle with long term poor health because of where their houses will be?

Not the first time the army has been involved in things like this. A number of years ago they were tasked to shoot wild horses up along the murray. Till the tourist buses went past and all the tourists saw the dead horses lying in the fields......

[minnie]

Hi Hayley,

I remember that with the horses... it's just so appalling the myths and lies in relation to our wildlife.

It's so concerning that before long people won't see a kangaroo in the wild before too much longer. There seems to be pockets with numbers but the genetic diversity will eventually cause issues no doubt.

What people don't think about is in times of drought etc kangaroos don't breed they actually hold back the joey until times improve and they don't destroy the land or the native grasses, it's our domestic farm animals doing that not the wildlife.

I get a bit hot under the collar on this subject.

Vicki