The Port Service Amendment (Disposal of Material) Bill will be made public when it is debated in the state upper house on Wednesday 11 June.

The bill aims to prevent the disposing of contaminated dredged material into Port Phillip Bay if by doing so the condition of waters is made or could be reasonably expected to be made noxious, poisonous, harmful or potentially harmful to human health, wildlife or plants, or detrimental to any beneficial use made of those waters. This provision is based on section 39 of the Environmental Protection Act 1970, which creates an offence of pollution of waters in these circumstances.

The Port of Melbourne Corporation's plan to dredge up four million tonnes of toxic sediment from the Yarra River and dispose of it in the Bay poses serious ecological and public health risks. The Yarra sediment, which is contaminated from decades of industrial runoff, contains cadmium, mercury, arsenic, dieldrin, and DDT and other dangerous toxicants.
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