Former BHP dump set for remediation | photos

Georgiou Group, a Perth-based firm, will remediate 13 hectares of land used as a waste dump by BHP for the Mayfield steelworks from around 1960.

Once slated for the T4 coal loader and now part of the state government’s long-term lease of the Port of Newcastle.

The Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, called the project “an important step towards addressing the industrial legacy of the site and protecting the port environment”.

The 13 hectare parcel is one part of 60 hectares of Kooragang land that the HDC has been charged with remediating.

“The Georgiou Group has demonstrated expertise in providing environmental, technical and engineering services, as well as expertise in large scale remediation projects, having completed previous work on Kooragang Island,” Mr MacDonald said.

HDC has responsibility for 60 hectares of remediation work across the facility on behalf of the NSW Government and has made significant progress. 

“HDC has already coordinated the implementation of previous remediation works on the site, and the completion of this stage will bring the total to 33 hectares.”

Under a 2002 deed signed by the Carr government, the NSW government bears the responsibility for contaminated former BHP Billiton land at the old steelworks site and Kooragang Island, after the company transferred its liabilities to the Crown in return for $100 million.

The land, once held by the Office of Environment and valued at $1.74 million, was transferred to the Newcastle Port Corporation before it was leased.

The site was identified in T4 planning documents as being contaminated with various hydrocarbons and lead.

Because most of the contaminants will stay in the ground under the cap-and-fill process, the work is considered to be remediation rather than decontamination. Mr MacDonald said the remediation was expected to be complete by June 2017.