It no use pretending otherwise; individuals, families & communities within the NSW ~100km wide coastal zone will see more flooding - might be within the next four months or the next four years - so here is some EPA advice on safely dealing with flood waste in your house or in your yard

NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NEWS:

NSW storm and flood updates 2022

27 June 2022

Find out how to keep your community safe after flooding; what to do with waste material and hazardous materials; and how to clean a flood-affected property.

If you are impacted by the floods, Service NSW is providing a one-stop shop for people and businesses to access all available recovery services. Call 13 77 88 or visit service.nsw.gov.au to access the following information:

• Accommodation advice

• Relevant charitable services

• Mental health and wellbeing services

• Support for businesses

• Financial assistance

• Insurance and legal support

• Replacing lost ID

Building site run-off

If you see run-off from a building site or your property is affected by run-off because of the floods or heavy rainfall, please contact your council to report it. Councils are the environmental regulator for local construction projects. The EPA can help you with major or state significant construction projects and you can report any issues to the EPA’s Environment Line on 131 555.

Waste levy waivers

Fifty-seven local government areas have been subject to natural disaster declarations and to help residents in these communities dispose of their flood-damaged goods and possessions, the NSW Government waste levy has been waived.

Residents can now take flood-affected household items to their local landfill without having to worry about the cost.

Building materials, furniture and any other flood-generated waste is covered by the waiving of the levy, which applies to waste from both public and private land.

Councils will specify on their website which waste facility is taking debris, opening hours and whether there are special requirements for disposing of flood damaged waste.

Waste facilities will need to ensure the waste is flood generated before they can waive the Government’s waste levy. Council waste facility gate fees may still apply.

Council areas where the waste levy has been waived

Ballina Council

Bayside

Bellingen Council

Blacktown

Blue Mountains

Byron Shire Council

Camden

Campbelltown

Canterbury Bankstown

Central Coast

Cessnock City Council

Clarence Valley Council

Coffs Harbour Council

Cumberland City Council

Dungog Shire Council

Fairfield

Georges River

Hawkesbury

Hornsby Council

Inner West

Kempsey Council

Kiama

Ku-Ring-Gai

Kyogle Council

Lismore Council

Liverpool

Maitland City Council

MidCoast

Muswellbrook Shire Council

Nambucca Council

Newcastle

Northern Beaches

Parramatta

Penrith

Port Macquarie / Hastings Council

Richmond Council

Ryde

Shellharbour

Shoalhaven

Singleton Shire Council

Sutherland

The Hills Council

Tweed Council

Upper Hunter Shire Council

Wingecarribee

Wollondilly

Wollongong

Council areas where the waste levy does not apply, but where residents may use a nearby facility in an area where the levy has been waived

Armidale Regional Council

Bega

Eurobodalla

Mid-Western Regional Council

Glen Innes Severn Council

Goulburn Mulwaree Council

Lithgow City Council

Queenbeyan-Palerang Regional Council

Snowy Monaro Regional Council

Tenterfield Council

Community safety

Safety is the number one priority for those in flood impacted areas. Please be alert for instructions from NSW government departments that are responding to the flood and be aware of evacuation orders from the NSW State Emergency Service.

Avoid flood impacted areas and damaged building or structures, unless they are deemed safe by authorities. Be mindful that there may be large submerged debris in flood waters which can be an unseen hazard.

If an immediate response is required, where there is imminent risk to the community or the environment, call Fire and Rescue NSW on Triple Zero (000), including for a HAZMAT response.

When collecting and removing rotting material such as spoiled food or vegetation, always wear a P2 face mask. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling flood-generated waste.

While cleaning up after flooding, be mindful where materials might contain asbestos and take appropriate precautions.

• Find out more about asbestos management.

If you encounter material that you suspect may be hazardous please avoid it and call Environment Line on 131 555 or info@epa.nsw.gov.au.

Dealing with waste material when clean-up commences

During clean-up, it is important to protect yourself and to be mindful of the environment around you. If you are in in a Disaster-Declared Area, your local council is your initial point of contact to seek assistance or phone Service NSW on 13 77 88 for information on what assistance is available. Operators will refer you to the appropriate support.

We are working with reginal councils to identify temporary waste storage sites.

If you are not in a Local Government Area covered by the NSW Government’s Immediate Relief Teams, liaise with your council about arrangements for clean-up in your area.

You can start managing your waste by separating it into the following groups:

• food waste (use your red lid bin first. If the bin is full put food waste in a container on the kerbside)

• hard bulk waste (furniture, carpets, mattresses)

• green waste (vegetation)

• scrap metal (whitegoods and e-waste)

• hazardous materials (gas bottles, paint, pool chemicals, unlabelled drums)

• Separating waste into the different waste types means we will be able to send the right waste to the right place and save valuable landfill space.

The NSW Government waste levy is being waived for the 17 local government areas that have been subject to natural disaster declarations.

Building materials, furniture and any other flood-generated waste are included in the levy waiver and this applies to waste from both public and private land.

Find out about water safety around flood waters and how to deal with flood mud, household and hazardous chemicals and asbestos if you have been impacted by storms or floods

Cleaning your flood affected property

• Every area affected by flood water inside your house needs to be cleaned, including empty refrigerators and cupboards.

• Wash mud, dirt, and debris from your house with a hose, starting at the highest point and working down to ground level.

• Where possible, remove all wet items such as floor coverings, rugs, mats, furniture, bedding, linen and clothing. If floor coverings are removed, thoroughly clean and dry the floor underneath before new material is laid.

• Begin drying out the house as soon as floodwaters recede – open doors and windows during dry days, use fans where possible, check for trapped water and mud in wall or floor cavities.

• Hard-surface floors, walls, benches and sinks should be thoroughly cleaned with hot soapy water and disinfected by wiping or spraying surfaces with a chlorine bleach solution or a product labelled as a disinfectant. Once disinfected, allow to dry.

• Flood-affected mattresses are difficult to treat and may need to be discarded.

• Furniture, such as lounge chairs, may be air dried in the sun then sprayed thoroughly with a disinfectant solution. Consult a local furniture renovating company if you are unsure about their condition.

• Soft toys should be discarded. Solid toys should be washed and then disinfected.

Baby power appears to be a ticking time bomb for consumers

Reuters Investigates, 14 December 2018:

Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product. But internal documents examined by Reuters show that the company's powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos and that J&J kept that information from regulators and the public….

J&J didn’t tell the FDA that at least three tests by three different labs from 1972 to 1975 had found asbestos in its talc – in one case at levels reported as “rather high.”……

…J&J has been compelled to share thousands of pages of company memos, internal reports and other confidential documents with lawyers for some of the 11,700 plaintiffs now claiming that the company’s talc caused their cancers — including thousands of women with ovarian cancer.

A Reuters examination of many of those documents, as well as deposition and trial testimony, shows that from at least 1971 to the early 2000s, the company’s raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos, and that company executives, mine managers, scientists, doctors and lawyers fretted over the problem and how to address it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public.

The documents also depict successful efforts to influence U.S. regulators’ plans to limit asbestos in cosmetic talc products and scientific research on the health effects of talc.

A small portion of the documents have been produced at trial and cited in media reports. Many were shielded from public view by court orders that allowed J&J to turn over thousands of documents it designated as confidential. Much of their contents is reported here for the first time……

The World Health Organization and other authorities recognize no safe level of exposure to asbestos. While most people exposed never develop cancer, for some, even small amounts of asbestos are enough to trigger the disease years later…..

What J&J produced in response to those demands has allowed plaintiffs’ lawyers to refine their argument: The culprit wasn’t necessarily talc itself, but also asbestos in the talc. That assertion, backed by decades of solid science showing that asbestos causes mesothelioma and is associated with ovarian and other cancers, has had mixed success in court.

In two cases earlier this year – in New Jersey and California – juries awarded big sums to plaintiffs who, like Coker, blamed asbestos-tainted J&J talc products for their mesothelioma.

A third verdict, in St. Louis, was a watershed, broadening J&J’s potential liability: The 22 plaintiffs were the first to succeed with a claim that asbestos-tainted Baby Powder and Shower to Shower talc, a longtime brand the company sold in 2012, caused ovarian cancer, which is much more common than mesothelioma. The jury awarded them $4.69 billion in damages. Most of the talc cases have been brought by women with ovarian cancer who say they regularly used J&J talc products as a perineal antiperspirant and deodorant.

At the same time, at least three juries have rejected claims that Baby Powder was tainted with asbestos or caused plaintiffs’ mesothelioma. Others have failed to reach verdicts, resulting in mistrials.

J&J has said it will appeal the recent verdicts against it. It has maintained in public statements that its talc is safe, as shown for years by the best tests available, and that the information it has been required to divulge in recent litigation shows the care the company takes to ensure its products are asbestos-free. It has blamed its losses on juror confusion, “junk” science, unfair court rules and overzealous lawyers looking for a fresh pool of asbestos plaintiffs…..

Read the full article here.