THE POLLUTANTS Gasworks

Beginning in the late 1800s, gasworks were built to produce town gas for heating, lighting and cooking, with extensive sites located in the heart of our growing cities like Sydney’s Barangaroo, the South Melbourne Gasworks and the Newstead Gasworks in Brisbane.

In NSW, the state’s EPA says the operation of over 60 former gasworks sites throughout the state has left a legacy of soil and groundwater contamination which should be addressed before the land is reused.

“Some of these contaminants are carcinogenic to humans and toxic to aquatic ecosystems and so may pose a risk to human health and the environment,” says the NSW EPA. “As a result, many former gasworks sites will require remediation before they will be suitable for sensitive land uses, such as housing.”

The NSW Department of Environment and Conservation says gasworks were typically located “near waterways or train lines for easy delivery of coal. They were often also close to the centre of the city”.

In Melbourne, the former Fitzroy Gasworks – just two kilometres from the CBD – was known as one of the city’s most contaminated sites. But, after four years of rehabilitation, completed in 2022, the land is now slated for development of 1200 apartments.

NSW EPA state that the remediation of the former gasworks at Barangaroo in Sydney “was challenging” and “involved cleaning out a large area and taking major steps to contain very smelly odours from tar as it was dug up and carted out to minimise the impacts on neighbours, including residents. It also involved the removal of an old tar tank and gasholders, below a major road in a busy area. This remediation has provided useful lessons and trial findings which will be used to regulate future remediation sites”. “The EPA has lifted the contaminated land declaration and Infrastructure NSW completed the remediation ahead of schedule”, enabling Barangaroo to become a thriving precinct with commercial office space and recreational areas.

“And, if it’s a contamination hotspot, the contamination isn’t necessarily restricted to a particular site; it could be migrating through the soil or surface and ground water to other sites close by.”