The " Blame Game " !

It seems to be an all too familiar problem.   Long after a site has been vacated the new owner finds that costly remedial work is needed to remove contaminants before it can be used for a new purpose.   It raises the question of why wasn't this work ordered at the expense of whoever caused the contamination in the first place ?

We are seeing this in instances where  petrol stations once stood.   Seepage from underground tanks often poisons the ground on adjacent private property.   In some cases, the oil company involved buys that property as part of the remedial process, but the stigma drives down prices and innocent people are hurt financially.

A case in point concerns the massive Barangaroo development in Sydney.   It was once the site of the city gas works, and now - years later - 600,000 tonnes of soil has to be excavated and trucked away because it is contaminated with lead, copper, zinc and a number of other minerals.

It is too late to resolve the inadequacy  of  past laws but there is a new problem looming that needs to  get the attention of law makers.    The Shell Oil company has announced that it will soon shut down it's refinery in Sydney and refine the petrol Australian motorists use from low cost labour sources in Asia.

When this refinery closes, it will leave behind land that is hugely contaminated by the very nature of what was done on these premises.   The question is -  Does the existing law require the owner to restore the land to a pristine state that will allow it to be reused without further remedial action ?      And if not, why should  that not be a condition imposed on the owner ?

It rankles many people to see an oil producing country like Australia shedding it's refining capacity and becoming reliant on overseas refineries to service our petrol market.   When the cost of restoring sites is taken into account, the economics of closure may not be so attractive, but we certainly should not allow a polluter to simply walk away and leave the mess for someone else to manage.

Now would be a good time to micro examine site restoration laws to see that they are adequate.  Otherwise, we will again be playing the " blame game " and allowing offenders to escape their responsibilities !