Port Macquarie Hastings Council (PMHC), in conjunction with the NSW Government has successfully completed work to remediate and beautify a stretch of environmentally sensitive coastline in Lake Cathie.
Over the past five months, contractors from the NSW Soil Conservation Service have been working to remove 1,224 tonnes of contaminated waste buried up to 500mm beneath the embankment of Bundella Avenue. Tests were carried out to confirm that the building material - buried some decades ago and exposed through coastal processes - was hazardous and required removal.
Crown Lands in the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) contributed $314,265 towards the project, with a co-contribution from PMHC. Once the waste was removed, the area was backfilled with marine sand sourced from the adjoining sand berm at the entrance of Cathie Creek, along with stabilisation works along the road verge.
About 2,000 native plants have been planted along the embankment, with a further 2,000 native plants remaining. These will help stabilise the embankment and improve the visual amenity of the area.
PMHC Acting Environment and Sustainability Manager, Ben Foster, said the remediation has given a new lease of life on an environmentally sensitive stretch of coastline.
"We were notified there had been potentially hazardous building material dumped decades earlier along the embankment of Bundella Avenue that had become exposed from coastal processes, and recent testing confirmed there was contaminated material within the waste," he said.
"We then sought to immediately remove all visible signs of the waste in the interest of public health and safety, prior to engaging our contractor to remove the remaining waste located below the embankment surface.
"The waste has now been successfully removed from the project area, with just some minor landscaping and replanting of native plant species left to complete.
Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said the remediation work was carried out on part Crown and part Council public road.
"I thank Crown Lands and Port Macquarie Hastings Council for working together with the Soil Conservation Service to remediate this land by removing asbestos containing material left by illegal landfilling at the site," Mr Kamper said.
"Cleaning up historic asbestos contamination is important to protect public health and the environment and to ensure land can be used safely into the future."
Mr Foster thanked Crown Lands and the NSW Soil Conservation Service in assisting with the remediation works, and to the Lake Cathie community for their patience during programmed access disruptions. Council staff kindly asks the community refrain from accessing the embankment while the vegetation establishes.
