LOCATION
South of Newcastle, NSW
OUR INVOLVEMENT
  • Analytical data assessment,
  • Preparation of remedial works plan
  • Site validation including soil, soil vapour and groundwater sampling

Project challenges

The proposed development site was on land that had been sand mined and subsequently raised due to uncontrolled filling. The site had also seen various industrial activities, including sand blasting. Previous investigations had not been comprehensive and had been undertaken during a period in which there were substantial changes to environmental assessment guidelines and risk assessment approaches.

The remediation uncovered a number of unexpected finds, including two underground storage tanks (USTs) and a former UST pit where substantial fuel spills/leakage had occurred.

Our solutions

We developed a new conceptual site model, completed an appropriate risk assessment and prepared a remediation strategy to clean up the site and make it suitable for the proposed development. The remediation strategy included consolidation and capping of materials on site, using a risk-based approach which minimised costs associated with off-site disposal of material to landfill, while reducing the health and environmental risks.

We compensated for the limited previous investigation data with a robust validation strategy and an agile project team that adapted to the site conditions and managed unexpected finds in accordance with well documented protocols. The project was subject to an independent contaminated site audit and a Section A Site Audit Statement was issued on completion of the remediation and validation, certifying that the site was suitable for its proposed use.