First in the list of failures, the New South Wales government has not cleaned up toxic waste from Homebush Bay and the Rhodes Peninsula, next to the Olympic site. Homebush Bay was used as a toxic waste dump from 1949 to 1976. In 1997, tests of waste dug up at North Newington, adjacent to the Olympic site, revealed dioxin levels 1,540 times what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designates as safe allowable levels. Under the topsoil of Kronos Hill is a mountain of contaminated sludge buried in a 60 foot deep landfill. It is contains heavy metals, asbestos, lead, hydrocarbons, pesticides, and dioxins.
Drains collect some of the poisonous runoff.
The rest seeps into the groundwater. On its list of Olympic green failures, Greenpeace points to confusion on what body will manage Olympic site toxic landfill after the Games. Map of toxic hotspots near the Olympic Games venues. Stars and yellow areas around Homebush Bay indicate locations of toxics. The Lidcombe Waste Treatment Plant is located near the Olympic Village, taking in tons of industrial waste and emitting toxic fumes.