News
ACLCA Executive Committee 2020
ACLCA Victoria held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 17th October 2019 at 5.30pm at Jacobs. The new Executive Committee was voted in and celebrated afterwards at the Saint and Rogue. The Executive Committee are holding a 2020 Planning Meeting on Thursday 5 December 2019.
If you have any recommendations for the Agenda please contact the Vic ExO with suggestions: vic@aclca.org.au
Events and Announcements 2019
Young Professionals Seminar Presentation
The ACLCA YP Seminar Presentation was held last Thursday 18 July 2019 at RMIT. We had a fantastic attendance of over 80 members and great feedback from those who attended the presentations as well as the post presentation event at The Oxford Scholar Hotel for networking over drinks and nibbles.
ACLCA Victoria would like to thank the six Young Professional presenters who had the courage to present in front of their colleagues and peers. We appreciate the time taken to prepare the presentations and wish you all the very best as you progress your young careers!
Presenters included:
- Caroline Coop, EESI: Enhancing Understanding of Contamination to Clients.
- Lucy Collie, Coffey: Remediation of a large chlorinated hydrocarbon plume within a difficult setting.
- Callum Macreadie, Cardno: Asbestos Categorisation and Remediation in Soil.
- Matt Russ, GHD: Are microbes fussy eaters with sophisticated palates – or is there a case for natural source zone depletion at DNAPL impacted sites?
- Joel Brown, Edge Group: Managing Leachate at a Former Unlined Landfill - A Case Study.
- Stephanie McColl, ERM: In-situ field analysis of arsenic: high resolution site characterisation using x-ray fluorescence.
All six of the presentations were of extremely high standards giving the judging panel a very difficult task of choosing 3 finalists.
ACLCA Victoria would like to congratulate the finalists as follows:
First Place: Matt Russ (GHD) for his winning presentation.
As a part of first place prize, Matt has won the opportunity to present at CleanUp 2019. Be sure to check the CleanUp program and get along to support Matt and presenters from other states!
Second Place: Joel Brown (Edge Group)
Third Place: Stephanie McColl (ERM)
A special thanks to the CPD FA Committee who organised the event. In particular, Monika Janiak (GHD) and Clinton Smiljanic (EESI) as well as our judging panel Ben Coughlan (GHD/ACLCA Vice President), Jean Meaklim (Greencap/ACLCA immediate past President) and Kristin Wasley (EPA Victoria) - without them, this wonderful event would not be possible!
ACLCA Victoria would also like to thank the event sponsors Lotsearch (1st Prize) and ALS (2nd Prize) and Air-Met (3rd Prize) for their generous contributions towards the YP Seminar Presentations.
Lastly, thanks to all our wonderful members that attended the presentations and participated in the post-presentation networking.
We now look forward to Matt presenting at CleanUp on Tuesday 10 September 2019.
Revised Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Freshwater and Marine Water Quality
Revision of the Guidelines
The Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality, (previously known as ANZECC 2000) were recently updated. The revision of the Guidelines was a joint project of the Australian and New Zealand and Australian State and Territory Governments (ANZAST). The guidelines can be found at http://waterquality.gov.au/anz-guidelines
Key revisions include:
- The water quality management framework has been expanded and strengthened, including the development of conceptual models for natural systems.
- Information on recreational and drinking water has been removed as the water quality and health guidelines already cover these topics (Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011 and Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Water 2008).
- Ecosystem information specific to regional location has been updated to provide for improved targeted biological assessment.
- Guidance on cultural and spiritual values of water resources is now incorporated in the Guidelines.
Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2018
The Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2018 provides the foundation for a transformation of Victoria’s environment protection laws and Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).
More information about the Bill, including an informative 5-page Fact Sheet explaining the major changes, is available on DELWP’s website.
ACLCA Funded Project - PFAS in Groundwater
In 2017 ACLCA funded a project conducted by RMIT University to investigate sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to groundwater west of Melbourne, Australia.
The project investigated wastewater impacted groundwater in the Werribee Irrigation District and groundwater adjacent to legacy landfill sites in Newport and Sunshine. The results of the findings of the investigations in the Werribee Irrigation District were published in Science of the Total Environment Journal in an article titled “Investigating recycled water use as a diffuse source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to groundwater in Melbourne, Australia”. It can be downloaded for free until 11 September 2018. If you would like the link for free download please email Emily at ACLCA.
A complete report also detailing the findings of the landfill PFAS investigations will be available later in the year.