December 28, 2009
NEW plans to clean up the site of a former uranium smelter in Hunters Hill mean a four-storey waterfront mansion the NSW Government has repeatedly declared safe will be demolished.
In addition, 3000 cubic metres of radioactive earth will be dug out of two neighbouring properties and another 500 cubic metres are likely to be scraped from the harbour floor in front of the site at 11 Nelson Parade, subject to more tests by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
A secretive tendering process for removing the earth, in which bidders were forbidden from visiting the site or talking to neighbours, is under way.
No environmental assessment or planning approval has been granted yet.
The Herald understands the tests show elevated background radiation levels that in some cases exceed health guidelines, reinforcing results from independent tests last year by a private company, Australian Radiation Services. These showed that in some spots contamination was 350 times normal levels.
The Government's State Property Authority, which took over management of the site from NSW Health this year, said in tender documents that the home might need to be demolished, subject to ANSTO's findings.
The house was bought back from private owners for $3.4 million in an out-of-court settlement, after the Government said for six months that it was safe.
The clean-up plans are another climbdown for the Government, which maintained for years that the street was safe.
Six people who lived in affected properties in the street are known to have died from cancer.
NSW Liberal MP Michael Richardson, who has campaigned for years for a thorough clean-up, said the secrecy of the tendering process was alarming. "I understand the sensitivity of this issue but the people of NSW are entitled to know the full story,'' he said.
The documents classify the soil as ''restricted solid waste'' but Mr Richardson said some of it should be classified as hazardous waste, which poses a problem for disposal.
An ANSTO spokesman said the agency was supplying results to the NSW Environment Department, which would decide the level of clean-up required.
The site was home to a uranium smelter owned by Radium Hill Company from 1908 to 1915.
Read:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/radioactive-waterfront-home-to-be-razed-20091227-lga9.html
