An Explosive Debate in Australia

Approximately 50 km southeast of Melbourne you’ll find the Brookland Greens, a developing area in which residents now fear for gas explosions from the landfill. The waste facility approved as recently as 1996 but side liners were not required. As such, gas has migrated laterally, and lacking proper venting controls, the site has become quite dangerous. Making matters worse, a Victorian council approved home construction as close as 200 meters from the active landfill zone–ignoring the previous rule that no homes be constructed within 500 meters of both active and inactive, capped waste cells.