The NSW Government announced in April 2021 the determination of a proposal to clean up contaminated land at Nelson Parade, Hunters Hill.
Central to the determination is an agreement to transport all contaminated material from Nelson Parade to a licensed facility in the United States of America.
Background
The Hunters Hill Remediation project relates to three Government owned properties at 7-11 Nelson Parade, Hunters Hill. The properties are contaminated as a result of previous industrial activities that operated on the site in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Property and Development NSW had previously proposed to excavate the contaminated soil and transport it to a licensed landfill at Kemps Creek in Western Sydney. Following substantial community opposition, Property NSW undertook further investigations into alternative disposal options, which was outlined in a final Preferred Project Report (PPR) 2020.
The new approach proposed by Property NSW includes:
- excavating all contaminated material from the site and loading it into sealed international packaging bags and then shipping containers
- exporting the waste to a licensed facility in the United States of America for final disposal.
The remediation project is expected to take up to 12 months in total. Works are scheduled to commence in 2021 and includes site preparation and remediation works, with the transport of material from the site taking up to four months.
The final Preferred Project Report 2020 was open for public comment from 1 December 2020 until 22 December 2020.
Read the PPR and all project documentation at Major Projects.
All submissions are made public in line with the department’s objective to promote an open and transparent planning system.
The Hunters Hill Remediation project is classified as a major project under the former Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act).
The planning process for major projects is as follows:
- The department issues environmental assessment requirements.
- Preparation of an environmental assessment by the proponent.
- Public exhibition and opportunity for comment on the proposal by the community.
- Response by the proponent to the submissions made during exhibition.
- Assessment of the proposal by the department.
- Final determination.
November 2012: Property NSW prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed remediation of properties in Nelson Parade, Hunters Hill. The proponent then lodged the EA with the department for consideration.
22 November 2012 – 8 February 2013: The department invited submissions about the EA during public exhibition.
January 2015: After review of all submissions, Property NSW lodged a response to the submissions (the Submissions Report).
The department requested further information from Property NSW to fully address the issues raised in submissions. This included the final disposal location for the contaminated material.
2015 – 2019: Property NSW has been investigating various disposal options – a process which has proven to be quite difficult and complex. Property NSW has had to revise its environmental assessment during this time to adequately consider potential on-site impacts associated with changes in remediation methods.
June 2019: The department received Property NSW’s Preferred Project Report (PPR) and published it at Major Projects. A public notification period to collect feedback on the PPR closed on 26 July 2019.
August 2019 – November 2020: Community feedback indicated there were concerns about encapsulating the material and keeping it on the site. Property NSW continued to investigate alternative options and secured contractual and Government approvals to transport all contaminated material from the site to a licensed facility in the United States of America.
November 2020 – December 2020: Property NSW submitted their final Preferred Project Report (PPR) 2020. The department invited community comment on the PPR via Major Projects.
April 2021: The NSW Government announced in April 2021 the determination of a proposal to clean up contaminated land at Nelson Parade, Hunters Hill.
For more information about the Hunters Hill Remediation project go to: