The next stage of the former Truegain industrial site clean-up in the Lower Hunter region of New South Wales will begin in the coming weeks, due for completion by the end of the year.
Ford Civil has been appointed by Property and Development NSW (PDNSW) on a $5.3 million project to remediate contaminated soil across almost 1.2 hectares of the former oil refinery at Rutherford near Maitland.
The Truegain site was abandoned in 2016 after the company lost its trade waste permit, had its environment protection licence suspended and entered into liquidation.
In 2021, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) brought proceedings against Truegain director and former owner Robert Pullinger to recover the cost of cleaning up the site.
The first stage of the project was completed in 2023 and involved the removal of more than 11,000 tonnes of industrial liquid waste, sludge and above ground infrastructure including storage tanks from the site.
The second stage of work will be guided by a Remediation Action Plan, developed by Property and Development NSW and environmental consultant Ramboll.
The remedial works will involve the removal of concrete slabs, excavation of contaminated soil and subsurface infrastructure, backfilling the excavation with clean soil and revegetating or resealing the area
Jenny Aitchison, Member for Maitland, said the former Truegain site has been a difficult contamination issue for the community over many years.
“This next stage of remediation work brings us another step closer to finally putting this matter behind us,” said Aitchison.
“Once stage two works are completed, we will explore options to return this site for future community industrial use.”
For more information, visit: the Truegain site remediation webpage.
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