IT was up to BHP Billiton to choose the appropriate method of cleaning up the steelworks channel of the Hunter River, the State Government said yesterday.
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After trial clean-ups of river sludge using the Newcastle firm Innova Soil Technology to incinerate the potentially carcinogenic tars dredged from the bottom of the river, BHP is opting instead to mix the material with cement and to place it in landfill on Kooragang Island.
Environmentalists have criticised this decision, which followed similar trials by Innova on contamination on the main steelworks site.
In 2004, BHP decided against remediating the contaminated "hotspots", opting instead for a large underground "great wall of China" to stop any leaching of contaminants to the north of the steelworks site.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Liza Cassidy, said yesterday that it was up to BHP to choose the method it wanted, provided that method met the appropriate environmental standards.
BHP Billiton spokeswoman Emma Meade said Innova's method had been assessed by BHP Billiton but it was "not preferred as the optimal treatment method".
Innova chief Dr John Lucas said both tests had been successful and the company was now remediating a site in Victoria for retailer Harvey Norman.
A map provided by BHP Billiton shows the size of the contaminated area, which is broken up into primary and secondary contamination zones, with the toxic waste to be stored on Kooragang Island immediately west of the Tourle Street bridge.
Ms Meade said trial dredging and treatment was likely to continue for some time, with design of the final program to start in about September.
The main dredging program was scheduled to start late this year or early next year and take about two years to complete.
