A major investigation is to be launched in the New Year to identify potential disposal sites for solid waste material created by industries in the South-West.
In a joint statement today, Deputy Premier Ian Taylor and South-West Minister David Smith, said it was essential that such an inquiry was undertaken now - if correct planning procedures were to be implemented to safeguard the environment.
"There are a number of areas which have been identified in the region as places where new industry can invest," the statement said.
"Both the community and potential investors must know that these sites, if selected, are within an economic radius of an area where waste can be disposed of safely."
The inquiry will be funded jointly by LandCorp and the Department of State Development.
The statement said the inquiry's terms of reference would follow closely those recommended in the final report of the Industrial Sites Advisory Committee published in September.
That report emphasised that new industries brought to the South-West should use 'clean' technology, and be encouraged to minimise waste and recycle by-products.
The statements said the examination of a proposed waste disposal area, within the Kemerton Industrial Park, would be incorporated in the overall South-West study.
Those consultants now being selected for the Kemerton study would be invited to tender for the larger investigation.
The statement said that, under the terms of reference for the new inquiry, the potential waste sites identified would need to be sufficiently close to existing and planned future industrial estates to be reasonably accessible by road or rail transport.
At the same time, potential sites would need to cover an area adequate to include a buffer zone.
The statement said full terms of reference would be released when tenders were called in January.
