Land contamination - 2006Home | Land | Land Use & Management | Land Contamination | 2006 What does the Data tell us for 2006Land is considered to potentially be contaminated if it has been used for a purpose that could have resulted in the contamination of soil or water by a substance that is considered to be injurious to human health. Things like chemicals and heavy metals used for timber preservation, tanning processes, pesticides, asbestos and petroleum-based products are typical contaminants. Some materials can remain in the soil for many decades. The following landuse activities are often linked with contamination.
The management of contaminated land is shared through the Department of Planning, Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and Council. Under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997, DEC regulates sites that pose a significant risk of harm to human health or the environment. In the Shoalhaven, there is only one such site. This site was a former gas works site. Gas manufacturing plants, known as gasworks, used to produce town gas for heating, lighting and cooking. Gas was generated by heating coal. The resulting gas was captured, piped off and used as fuel. The operation of a gas works often left a legacy of soil and groundwater contamination. The major contaminants included tars, oils, hydrocarbon sludges, spent oxide wastes and ash. Council is currently working with DEC investigating how the site can be remediated. Council has adopted a draft “Contaminated Land Policy” based on a model policy developed by the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils. Council also maintains a record of sites that are considered to be potentially contaminated, based on the information that it holds regarding past land uses. There are currently 354 sites where Council has records that a previous landuse activity may have been contaminating. These are included in the table below. By far the most common type of contamination has been the use of sites for storage or sale of fuel. The database that Council holds on site records showing a previous landuse that may lead to site contamination has a total of 356 active sites.
* Note: where a site has more than one type of potential contamination, eg Slaughterhouse/ Above Ground Fuel Tank, these will be counted separately. Home | Land | Land Use & Management | Land Contamination | 2006
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