Katherine's new air monitoring station has cost ratepayers almost $200,000.
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The purchase of the new air monitor, located adjacent to the cricket oval, is part of the deal the Katherine Town Council struck with the NT Environment Protection Authority to avoid legal action over last year's tyre fire.
The council will have to pay a heavy price for locating an illegal tyre dump at the back of the showgrounds, containing almost 300 tonnes of old tyres, which dangerously caught fire on Territory Day last year.
The EPA agreed to quarantine charges against the council after council agreed to finance major environmental works as part of a deal which will lock future councils in for a decade.
Among the items to be delivered are:
- A new air monitoring station for the town (now at the cricket oval).
- Implement a kerbside recycling service in the town.
- Sign up to an extensive waste management strategy and provide annual reports on its "success" to the EPA
The council has still not provided a general statement on the EPA's decision made public last week.
In answer to questions from Katherine Times, chief executive office Ian Bodill said he wanted to clarify the Waste Management Strategy requirement.
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Mr Bodill said one of these challenges in the agreement is the matter of recycling.
"Through the Waste Management Strategy, council will explore options relating to waste reduction, avoidance and reuse along with resource recovery and recycling," he said.
"The form in which these challenges are overcome are still to be determined and our requirement to provide kerbside recycling could potentially be misleading.
"With limited/no access to recycling streams, the way in which council achieves these outcomes is most definitely a challenge that will be further explored through the process."
It is not known how much the council has already spent on the tyre fire clean-up, although it is believed to be about $500,000 already.
Katherine Times asked council on Monday the cost to the ratepayers of the air monitoring station, and no response has yet been received.
But the council agenda for next Tuesday's monthly council meeting details an amount of $195,727 for the station.
It is not known how much it will cost to operate, as directed by the EPA.
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