Aprocessing plant on the outskirts of Mount Gambier has moved to allay community concerns about a wastewater treatment plant to be built on site.
A Mondelez International spokesperson assured people the company had listened carefully to community feedback and worked closely with the EPA on the design and placement of the plant at its Suttontown facility.
Nearby residents had raised concerns about noise during the construction phase and when the treatment plant is operational, odour, a proposed biogas burner, safety issues due to increased traffic and the water table being at risk of pollution.
However, a Mondelez spokesperson said the company was committed to reducing its environmental footprint.
“Mondelez International’s Mount Gambier Philadelphia Cream Cheese plant is committed to growth by making our products in the right way, with a positive impact on our people, the planet and our community,” the spokesperson said.
“We have already taken significant steps in our journey to minimise our environmental footprint – installing solar that now covers about 6% of our total energy needs, plus reducing water and energy use, and minimising food waste.
“To make Philadelphia Cream Cheese, a significant amount of water is needed for cleaning and that water cannot be re-used.
“A major investment in a treatment plant means we will clean the water to a quality that can be re-used for sustainable irrigation on nearby farms.”
A local resident said Mondelez was trying to find a satisfactory solution and had not done anything wrong in the search for the best for the community, however they believed there were other options.
This included working with SA Water to upgrade infrastructure to the benefit of the whole region, but felt the relevant authorities were not necessarily communicating with each other.
The resident said the current most cost-effective proposal received planning consent from the Limestone Coast Regional Assessment Panel, with 11 conditions from the EPA, in the form of a large lagoon lined with clay and plastic bladder with the capacity for 16 million litres of wastewater, across from Mount Gambier and 5km north of the Blue Lake in the underground water catchment zone.
The resident said there was no exclusion zone from existing houses, with the nearest resident’s back door 60m away.
