Environmental consultants are set to cash in when the state government’s Contaminated Sites Act of 2003 gets some teeth from December 1.
Environmental consultants are set to cash in when the state government’s Contaminated Sites Act of 2003 gets some teeth from December 1, forcing landowners or occupiers, contaminated sites auditors and those who know or suspect they have contaminated a site to report it.
Once sites are reported, the new legislation will allow these to be classified and registered according to what kind of threat they pose to the community and environment, with memorials placed on land titles of those sites suspected of, or deemed, ‘contaminated and requiring remediation’ until they are cleaned up.
This is good news for both prospective land buyers and the environmental consultancy industry, whose contaminated site consultants and accredited auditors are expecting business to grow substantially as a result of the legislation.
Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Association (WA) president Ron D'Ercole said its members are anticipating the market will grow significantly in the coming months once the strict requirements take affect.
“Queensland has had a similar act in place since 1989 and their market changed significantly as a result, so we expect the market here to change accordingly,” he said.
Only 2,000 sites in WA are currently registered as contaminated, according to Mr D’Ercole, and he expects this figure will rise markedly once those landowners who were avoiding the task faced up to the law.
Maximum penalties of up to $250,000 and daily penalties of $50,000 will apply to individuals who know of or suspect a site is contaminated and fail to report it within 21 days.
Body corporates who fail to report contaminated sites can expect penalties of up to five times these amounts.
Polluters will also pay as a result of the law, as the act has established a hierarchy for assigning responsibility of remediation and allows for the transfer of that responsibility.
Mr D’Ercole said a typical environmental assessment and treatment would take place over four stages, with the first stage costing around $5,000 for a basic risk assessment in accordance with the act.
This may be followed by sampling and analysis, costing anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 and taking up to three months to complete.
If contamination is found, a management plan is created as part of the third stage, followed lastly by a potentially long and expensive remediation process if required.
Areas commonly found to be contaminated include former fuel station sites where tanks have leaked, sites formerly and currently used by small industry, metal plating operations, and land used for horticulture and poultry farms.
“Not a lot of residential areas are affected as new developments are mainly taking place on vacant bush land. Landfills have been well regulated in the past, but some uncontrolled former landfill sites that are not lined may risk nearby groundwater supplies,” he said.
Buyers have been warned by the government that if they do not establish what contamination is present prior to purchasing a site, they may be held responsible for the remediation in the future.
A Contaminated Sites Committee is currently being established by the Department of Environment and Conservation, whose key roles will include determining responsibility for remediation, deciding on appeals against classifications and issuing exemption certificates to innocent landowners.
