Status of Remediation Works and Planned Activities

The Environmental Assessment (EA) for the site remediation which was exhibited in August 2006 and was available on the Department of Planning website (www.planning.nsw.gov.au) identified the proposed remediation methodology and the proposed order of remediation over a 5 year period.  The project received approval from the Minister for Planning on 27 February 2007.

Following receipt of the finalised approval, work is now progressing in the preparation of many of the plans, reports and documents that are required to be approved prior to the commencement of works and / or within certain timeframes of the approval.

The EA indicated that the area known as Cardiff West Estate (CWE) which is in the north-eastern part of the PCCS site adjacent to the existing Cardiff Industrial Estate was to be subject to remediation in the latter part of 2006.

The CWE remediation excavations (being the first parcel of land to be remediated) were commenced as planned and are now nearing completion.  After remediation is complete, a Validation Report is to be prepared noting that the remediation works have achieved the required standards for an industrial use.  The PCCS Site Auditor is then required to prepare a Site Audit Report (SAR) and a Site Audit Statement (SAS) indicating that the remediation process was conducted correctly and that remediated area is suitable for its intended use.  After these steps have been completed, it is necessary to obtain approval from the Director-General of the Department of Planning (D-G) and DEC in order that the remediated portion of land may be subsequently sold or released for development.  The approval requirements are described in Section 8 of the Approval.

It is planned that this process of sequential (or possibly parallel) remediation of separate defined portions of the whole PCCS site continue until all the contaminated soil materials are aggregated in the on-site containment cell.  At this stage, all of the surrounding land will have been remediated or managed to a level appropriate for a specified land use (such as residential, industrial, commercial or open space).

When all the abovementioned approvals are obtained, PCCS will seek for excision of the remediated areas from the Remediation Order applying to the site.

Documentation for the next parcel of land to be remediated is currently being prepared for submission to the Site Auditor and authorities.  The land area in question consists predominantly of the areas of Munibung Hill to the north and east of the PCCS site plus a portion of the PCCS land to the east of First Street, Boolaroo.

There are numerous approval conditions that need to be satisfied before remediation can commence on site and PCCS is currently working through these with the authorities.  It is expected that the required approvals will be achieved such that remediation of the Munibung Hill area noted above can be commenced in June/July 2007.  Commencement of the construction of the containment cell is expected in the last quarter of 2007.

The approval allows for remediation to occur over a period of 5 years from approval to commence works (notionally June/July 2007).  PCCS will be seeking to complete all the works and approvals in a shorter time frame with the current target being 3 years (i.e. by July 2010).  Based on this, the following schedule is planned:

June/July 2007 – Remediation to continue following completion of the Cardiff West Estate with commencement of the Containment Cell late in the year.

2008 – Remediation and Containment Cell Construction to continue throughout the year.

2009 - Remediation and Containment Cell Construction completed.  Existing Effluent Treatment Plant Decommissioned and new one installed.

July 2010 – Completion of all approvals.

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