Dora Creek Remediation

Project facts

Project area

40,000m²

Location

Dora Creek

Local Government Area

City of Lake Macquarie

Housing and Property Group

The Property & Development NSW (PDNSW) team is responsible for the management and delivery of large scale or complex real estate projects and transactions.

Site history

As part of the development of the Eraring Power Station (circa 1980), dredging occurred to construct a cooling water inlet canal.  Dredged spoil was placed on approximately 4 hectares of land at Dora Creek.

The dredged spoil contained potential acid sulphate soil, resulting in the production of sulfuric acid as the soil dried and came into contact with the air.

PDNSW is managing the remediation of the site, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Project objectives

This project involves restoration of a legacy environmental problem on government owned land.

PDNSW’s Environmental Services Group is remediating the site to establish vegetation, improve site aesthetics, improve the productivity of the land and reduce the risk of erosion.

Remediation of the site involves:

• Testing the soil to determine what soil ameliorants are required
• Supplying and spreading approximately 600 tonnes of agricultural lime
• Rotary hoeing to incorporate the lime into the soil
• Ploughing, seeding and fertilising the area to establish grass on the site.

Current status

The project is nearing completion with wet weather access causing some delays.

Non-financial benefits

• Remedial works will improve the aesthetics, productivity and safety of the area.

Financial benefits

• Successful remediation of the site will allow future beneficial use of the site and potential divestment of a responsibly managed Government asset.