When remediation at the former Mortlake gasworks site was completed and the new suburb of Breakfast Point established, the possibility of cleaning up the contaminated sediments of the adjacent Kendall Bay arises. The contamination is associated with the Mortlake gasworks and in 2004, the sediments are subject to a NSW EPA Remediation Order. In 2010, a 172-berth commercial marina is proposed attracting substantial opposition from a wide cross-section of the community. The Minister for Planning requires the Planning and Assessment Commission to carry out a review of the project and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement about the suitability and long-term effectiveness of the proposed sediment protection system, the environmental impacts of the project and also to consider all issues raised in public submissions. The Commission finds that the impacts of the proposal are unacceptable and recommends that the project be refused.
Further investigation is undertaken and various options for remediation considered by site owner, Jemena (formerly AGL). It begins in December 2010 with sediment sampling. A Community Liaison Group is establish and Information Workshops are held. An Environmental Impact Statement and Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessments are prepared and eventually a remediation project is authorised. Jemena appoint Ventia as principal remediation contractor. Ventia has already designed and completed sediment remediation in Homebush Bay and is well across the sort of issues that can arise around contaminated sediment remediation. Preliminary work begins in 2018 and Development Consent given in May 2019. The project is fully mobilised in 2020 and completed in 2021. The Kendall Bay sediment remediation project was recognised internationally at the 2021 Edison Awardsâ„¢ for state of the art in-situ stabilisation of sediments for environmental purposes.
In this Case Study, we offer two reports and a Community Fact Sheet. There is a lot of information on-line about the Kendall Bay remediation project too.
Related Documents
CSIRO Development of remediation targets for Kendall Bay sediments – Bioavailability and ecotoxicity of contaminants. Simpson, S. Spadaro, D. Batley, G. 2016
Cleaning Up Kendall Bay. Fact Sheet December 2010
NSW Planning Assessment Commission. Kendall Bay Marina Project. Report 2011.