Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has been advised by Energy Brix that about two megalitres of treated waste water has been pumped out of its settling pond in compliance with its EPA licence. The settling pond is estimated to hold between 10 and 12 megalitres of water in total.
The discharge was from the pond where an ashing spill of a maximum of 40,000 litres from the Hazelwood power station was contained last week.
The main treatment of the waste water in the pond settles out sediments, such as coal or briquette dust; the pH of the waste water is also checked as one of the key tests to ensure compliance with the EPA licence.
EPA has also taken samples of the waste water as part of its investigation into the spill from the Hazelwood power station to determine whether there has been any breach of GDF Suez’s EPA licence.