Binary fire update - July 2006

The department has made significant progress in cleaning up the contamination caused by the fire at the Binary Industries chemical plant in Narangba in August 2005.

The State Government has budgeted $9 million for the containment, cleanup and rehabilitation works for neighbouring areas affected by contaminated firewater. So far, $2.4 million has been spent on emergency works to contain contaminated soil and water to the Binary site and adjacent land to prevent it escaping to Saltwater Creek. Another $1.4 million has been spent so far on the clean up and remediation of contaminated land adjacent to the Binary site.

Contaminated areas are fully fenced to prevent public access. A full-time site manager supervises all activities at the site during the week and security patrols are conducted over the weekends.

The clean up is a massive task with more than 16 megalitres (million litres) of water requiring treatment and disposal. The department is working towards having the water treatment finalised by October, before the start of the wet season.

Contaminated soils will be removed and treated soon after the water treatment has been finalised.

About 2 megalitres of contaminated water stored on the site has already been disposed of through Caboolture Shire Council's sewage treatment system.

Council has been monitoring the incoming wastewater and treated effluent from the Burpengary treatment plant and test results have shown the wastewater is being effectively treated to a high standard before it is released.

The remaining 14 megalitres of contaminated water is being treated in two 7-megalitre batches in a treatment dam constructed by the department next to the Binary site. Aerators have been installed in the treatment pond to provide oxygen to speed up the natural biological processes that break down the contaminants in the water.

Each batch is expected to take 6-8 weeks to be treated to a point where the water can be disposed of through the sewage treatment system.

Treatment of the first batch is complete and the release of the treated water to the sewer has commenced. The remaining contaminated water will be transferred to the treatment pond as soon as practicable.

The four containment ponds that were built to store contaminated firewater on land adjacent to the site are being progressively emptied as the water is moved to the treatment pond.

Three of these ponds have now been emptied, allowing the department to test the soil at the bottom of the ponds. Analysis of the soil samples from two ponds is helping to determine the best way to remediate the contaminated sediments

The last pond will be progressively emptied to allow the department to push forward with soil remediation at the bottom of these ponds and elsewhere on the areas adjacent to the Binary site that were affected by contaminated water.

The bunding structures (containment dams) will remain in place until all the contaminated water and sediment is either removed or remediated.

Since the Binary fire, the department has monitored Saltwater Creek and its Magnesium Street tributary for pesticides by sampling water and sediments at a series of locations between the Binary site and Hays Inlet. The most recent samples collected on 28 April 2006 showed water quality in Saltwater Creek is within national guideline levels.

The department, along with other State and local government agencies, has worked hard to get to this point in the clean up works. The community can be assured that the remediation is progressing as quickly and as safely as possible. The department is working hard to ensure the cleanup is complete before the summer wet season. However, any wet weather over the next few months may cause some delays in these works.

Testing will continue throughout the cleanup works to ensure that the site is remediated to the highest level of safety.

After the contaminated water is removed from the containment ponds, the contaminated soil will be removed for remediation and replaced with clean fill. The area will then be revegetated.