CENTRAL COAST HYDROCARBON CONTAMINATION REMEDIATION

       CHALLENGE

​

During the process of trying to divest their 2.4ha property, our client discovered that the land was significantly contaminated by fuel leaking from the neighbouring petrol station. A clean-up order was issued to the polluter by NSW EPA, however the polluter failed to act and contamination continued to migrate onto our client’s property. As a result, our client was forced to deal with the contamination themselves and spent several years engaging various consultants with no sustainable solution.

​

       SOLUTION

​

TRACE Environmental employed High Resolution Site Characterisation (HRSC) techniques to quickly and effectively delineate the full extent of site contamination, which turned out to be even greater than suspected. TRACE then developed an innovative and cost-effective remediation strategy, utilising in-situ bioremediation techniques to rapidly clean up the site, reducing groundwater concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons to acceptable levels in less than two months following implementation. TRACE also provided expert witness advice to support the client’s action against the polluter in the Supreme Court.

​

       RESULT

​

TRACE's innovative in-situ bioremediation strategy resulted in the rapid remediation of the groundwater plume, cleaning up the site in months, rather than years, and for far less cost than traditional methods. The NSW Supreme Court also ruled in favour of our client & awarded them more than $9 million in damages.