FAQs

Q. During Innova's pre consultation process several questions have been asked, a collection of these questions have been detailed below along with answers.

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Q. Who is Innova Soil Technology?

Innova Soil Technology was established in 1995 initially as a result of research conducted through the University of Newcastle, NSW. Innova has designed and manufactured a state of the art Direct-heated Fast quenched Thermal Desorption plant (DFTD) capable of treating all hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. The process has been designed in-house from a laboratory scale, then to pilot plant scale through to the construction of a fully operational DFTD plant capable of treating 30 Tonnes/hr of contaminated soil.

Presently Innova employs eight full time and four part-time employees with offices located in Newcastle, NSW and Melbourne, Vic. Innova provides a safe and cost effective solution for the remediation of contaminated soils and associated environmental services. In 2003 Innova Soil Technology was awarded Engineers Australia - National Environmental Excellence Award for their work in soil remediation and for development of the technology.

About Innova Soil Technology
Innova Corporate

Q. What soil decontamination/remediation has Innova undertaken in the past?

Innova has successfully conducted remediation of many different hydrocarbon contaminated soils on the following projects:
NSW EPA Process R&D Demonstration Trial (3000 Tonnes)
Former Steelworks Project (2000 Tonnes) – coke making from coal
Former Gasworks Trial for Client (500 Tonnes) – gas production from coal
Chemicals Plant Trial for Client (150 Tonnes) – coal tar distillation
Chemicals Plant Project (6130 Tonnes) – coal tar distillation
Harbor Sediments Trial for Client (500 Tonnes) - coal tar contaminants
Harvey Norman Springvale (20,700 Tonnes) – PCB remediation

All the projects have complied with strict EPA regulations stack emission criteria.

Case studies of all projects are available on Innova's website at

Innova Soil Technology Website

Q. What is the attitude of the Victorian State Government and the EPA to Innova's proposal?

The EPA is very supportive of the proposed CSR as it complements their commitment to eliminate Category B classified contaminated soil going to landfill by 2020. The EPA recognizes Innova as a proven remediation option for eradicating soil contamination.

The EPA and Victorian government closely monitored Innova's recent project in Springvale. At the completion of the project the Victorian government stated in its media release a number of positives regarding the project, including: “We are confident we now have a viable, safe and cost effective method for treating polluted soil…. The technology meets the stringent environmental and safety standards applied by the EPA Victoria”.

EPA Press Release

Q. Will you consult with the community?

Yes, the local Altona community will continue to be informed throughout all steps of the process. Innova has recently undertaken extensive pre-consultation with the local council, environmental groups, local community groups and business's aimed at informing stakeholders on details of Innova's Centre for Site Remediation proposal but also to gain feedback from the community.

Innova will continue to consult with local community stakeholders throughout the EPA works approval application process through the establishment of this consultation website and forum and also by holding a community information session to provide additional information on the proposal and address any concerns from stakeholders.

Innova intends to establish an independent environmental monitoring team (EMT) and will be actively be involved in the ACNCG and local community groups when in operation.

Q. Who have you spoken to as part of your preconsultation process so far?

Innova recently initiated extensive pre-consultation with many of the key stakeholders in the Hobson’s Bay region in preparation for a formal works approval submission to the EPA. Pre-consultation was aimed at gaining feedback on the proposal from community stakeholders and ensuring all community concerns were appropriately addressed within the works approval document.

GROUPS WE HAVE HELD DISCUSSIONS WITH OR PRESENTED TO:
Hobsons Bay City Council Councillors and Officers
Department of Industry, Innovation and Regional Development
Environmental Protection Authority
Martin Pakula MLC
Mobil Altona
DOW Site Employees & Shift Teams
DOW Environment Monitoring Team
Altona Complex Neighbourhood Consultative Group(BASF, Worksafe,CityWestWater)
Ross Miller - Habitat Trust
Colleen Hartland – Greens MLC
Lynne Kosky’s Office
Harry Van Moorst - Western Region Environment Centre
Prix Car
Qenos
Friends of Altona Coastal Park - Robert Harrison
Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek - Geoff Mitchelmore
HBCC (Park Ranger) Emma Camilleri

HAVE CONTACTED BUT WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND AN INFORMATION SESSION ON SUNDAY 19th JULY 2009:
Altona Bay and Altona Green Residents' Association
Friends of Cherry Lake - Vicki Thomas
Friends of Kororoit Creek Friends of Newport Lakes
Friends of Skeleton Creek & Altona Wetlands
Friends of Westona Wetlands Inc.
Hobsons Bay Community First - Anne Palmer
Paisley Estate Residents' Action Group (PERAG) - Frances Nikora
Point Cook Residents' Association - Liz Mumby
Truganina Explosives Reserve - Jack Hallewell / Rob Andrew

Q. What is the EPA work approval process? Do I get a say?

Innova's Soil Technology will be required to obtain a works approval for the development of a Centre for Site Remediation under the Environment Protection Act 1970.

A works approval application will be submitted to the EPA, outlining the scope of the project as well as site control measures that will be undertaken to ensure there is no impact on the local environment.

The works approval process is open to the public for comments up to 21 days after the submission of the works approval. These comments must be taken into account by the EPA when deciding on granting the works approval.

If a works approval is granted, Innova will be required to obtain a license, which will specify EPA requirements for the operation of the business.

Additional Information can be found in the library material

EPA Work Approval

Q. When will the centre for site remediation be open for business?

Innova expects to submit a formal works approval application in early to mid October 2009. If the works approval is granted by late December, construction of the Centre for Site Remediation will commence in early February, with the centre operational by mid 2010.

Innova will continue consultation and provision of information throughout the work approval process to ensure that the community is fully informed. When the centre is in operation consultation will be focused through the ACNCG.

Q. Why the Dow site as a location, why not somewhere else?

Melbourne's west has historically been at the heart of Victoria’s industrial strength, however over the years this has resulted in some land contamination within the region. The Innova Centre for Site Remediation will give priority to local contaminated sites ensuring that previously unusable sites, due to soil contamination, are cleaned up and available to be redeveloped.

The Dow complex within Altona offers a site in an existing industrial location,
positioned with safe and easy access to major arterial routes.

The site has existing infrastructure including gas, power, weighbridge, sealed roadways and warehouse facilities (Soil Storage Shed). The reduced cost of establishing the centre through utilisation of existing infrastructure, combined with the reduce cost of soil transportation due to the proximity to existing contaminated sites, will ensure Innova will be significantly reduced lower cost than disposal through landfills.

In fact soil treated by Innova is expected to be half the cost of disposal to landfill! This gives land owners incentive to clean contaminated land producing clean useable land for the benefit of the community.

Q. Why do we need a centre, why not move the plant to where the contaminated soil or site is?

When a remediation site is sufficiently large enough then will continue to move the plant to the site.

Due to the size of Innova's plant and the high cost's associated with relocating and commissioning the plant Innova's process is viable for large remediation projects with soil quantities greater than 10,000T. However there are many contaminated sites throughout Hobson’s Bay and western Melbourne that are physically small or contain small quantities of contaminated soil requiring remediation, such as service station and smaller factory sites.

By establishing a centre, Innova will be able to offer landowners a proven, cost competitive, time effective remediation option while reducing the quantity of contaminated soil going to landfill.

Contaminated Waste Going to Landfill
A brief history of waste in Victoria

Q. Have there been any sites highlighted to you for potential remediation?

Yes. The local community has suggested the former Williamstown Gasworks, the disused service station site in Millers Road and of course the seaweed on the Altona and Williamstown beaches. All can be treated potentially by Innova.

Q. Will the Innova Centre for Site Remediation be a Toxic Waste Dump?

No. We will be treating contaminated soil - mainly from local sites - and returning it for use on site or for housing and industrial development, parklands and recreational areas.

Q. How does this proposal differ to the previous proposal in Toll Road some 7 or 8 years ago?

The Toll Road proposal involved the treatment of hydrocarbon contaminated soils by a different remediation method that of “landfarming”. Open windrows of contaminated soil were to be exposed to the sun where hydrocarbon contaminants would evaporate from the soil into the atmosphere. Stormwater runoff, odour and dust impacts on the local creeks and residential areas were of great concern for the local community. Innova’s proposal for a Centre for Site Remediation differs greatly from the previous proposals however all public concerns raised from the previous proposal have been examined and appropriately addressed to ensure there is no impact on local communities in Innova's proposal.

A key aspect of Innova's proposal is that all contaminated soil will be stored within an enclosed storage shed with odour and dust removed through a filtration carbon bed system prior to discharge, ensuring ensuring no odour or dust impacts on local communities. No contaminated soil will be exposed to the environment. Hydrocarbon contaminants will be removed from the soil and destroyed through the DFTD process with the only emissions generated being Nitrogen, carbon dioxideand steam. Stormwater collection pits and sediment catchment ponds will ensure all sediment is removed from site runnoff water, prior to exiting from site through existing stormwater drains.

Q. How many trucks will be required to transport the soil to and from the centre?

The centre aims to initially treat 30,000T/year of contaminated soil in the first year and anticipates reaching maximum capacity of 100,000T/year of contaminated soil by the third year of operation.

This equates to on average 20 trucks transporting soil per week to the centre and 20 trucks removing treated soil from the centre per week in the first year of operation. This will represent an increase in heavy vehicle patronage on Kororoit Creek Road of 0.23%. In full production 65 trucks to and from the centre per week will be required for transportation of soil representing an increase of 0.75% in relation to existing heavy vehicle conditions.

A truck calculator is available below to determine impact on Kororoit Creek Road for a range of soil transport/treatment quantities.

Truck calculator

Q. Will soil be transported through Altona's residential areas?

No. Soil will not be transported through Altona residential areas. Soil transportation vehicles will exit from the Princes Freeway and travel 1.2km along Kororoit Creek Rd to the centre. The transportation route to the centre is shown within the proposal overview.

Q. How will the soil be transported to Innova's centre?

Transportation of contaminated soil will be undertaken by vehicles lisenced and monitored by the EPA which require all soil to be covered and trucks tailgates to be sealed to prevent potential spillages.

Each truck will be required to obtain a permit from the EPA prior to transportation. Further details can be found on the link below.

EPA soil Tracking

Q. When will soil be trucked in/out of the centre?

Soil transport times will be from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and 8am to 12pm on Saturdays. The DFTD plant will run 24 hours a day.

Q. Is transporting contaminated soil risky to the local community?

Soils suitable for remediation at Innova's centre typically contain only 1% hydrocarbon contamination with the remainder consisting of inert soil.

The Victorian EPA regulates the transportation of contaminated soil. They implement extremely strict control measures to minimise any risk during the transportation of soil to the community and environment.

Q. What happens if there is an accident/spill when transporting soil?

All trucks will be required to have an appropriate spill kit readily avaliable within the truck at all times during transportation. If soil was to spill from the truck, the soil will be contained and placed back in the truck.

Q. How will the trucks be cleaned before leaving site or before picking up clean soil?

All trucks will be required to travel through a truck and wheel wash prior to leaving site. All wash water and sediment will be collected and analysed prior to disposal, with soil identified as containing contaminants transferred to the storage shed for DFTD treatment.

Q. What waste streams are generated from the process?

Innova's plant does not generate any material that requires further treatment. Gases emitted from the stack gas are Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and water (steam).

Q. How noisy is the plant?

The plant is relatively quiet, and will be less than background operations of Altona. For example at Springvale, the plant operated on a 24hr operation schedule, 500m from the nearest resident.

No enquiries or complaints were received throughout the three months of operation. Innova will minimize noise generation by conducting all screening and crushing operations within the soil storage shed. The greatest noise source generated from the plant will be the operation of the front end loader, which will operate outside the shed transferring the treated soil to the validation compound.

Q. What happens if something goes wrong, how safe is the technology?

Innova's plant more than satisfies all Australian standards and regulations. The plant has in excess of 80 measuring instruments located throughout the plant which monitor temperatures, gas pressures, flowrates and stack emissions with an automatic alarm system alerting the plant operators of any parameters outside normal operating conditions.

A number of hard and soft wired interlocks ensure that in the event of an emergency the plant will automatically shutdown in a safe manner. All data collected from the monitoring points are graphed and stored within a central database.

Q. What hours will the centre operate?

Innova's centre will operate 24 hours a day. The DFTD process will operate on a 12 hour rotation shift structure. Soil transport times will be from 8:00am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and 8:00am-12:00am Saturdays.

Q. What controls will be used to ensure only suitable contaminated soil will be transported to the CSR?

Extensive sampling will be undertaken onsite prior to transportation to Innova's centre in accordance with EPA requirements. An environmental report will be required detailing type, extent and quantity of contaminated soil intended to be transported to the CSR.

All loads of soil will be examined on arrival and additional samples taken for Innova's internal quality control with any soil deemed unacceptable returned to the site of origin.

Once treated, an independent consultant will test the soil with results compared to clean fill criteria.

Only hydrocarbon contaminants will be accepted to the centre with unsuitable material including elevated heavy metals and asbestos not accepted to the centre.

Additional information can be found below.
Soil hazard categorization and management
Soil sampling guidelines

Q. How many jobs will be generated by the centre?

Innova anticipates that 15-20 full time jobs will be created from the establishment of the centre, in addition to existing Innova staff.

Q. How will you know if the soil is treated properly?

Following treatment all soils will be sampled by an external consultant and validated prior to removal from the centre. Any treated soil found to contain contaminants would be placed in the storage shed for re-treatment as part of the validation process. Soil will be compared to EPA's clean fill criteria.

Q. What type of contaminated soil will be treated at the centre?

Innova's DFTD plant can treat a wide variety of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Contaminated soil is characterized by the EPA into three categories, category A, B and C.

Extensive soil sampling will be undertaken prior to transportation to the centre, with all soil tracked through the EPA's waste certificate system. Typically contaminants will include petroleum hydrocarbons from service stations and coal tars like napthalene from former gasworks.

Innova's centre will not accept soils contaminating heavy metals including lead or mercury or containing asbestos.

Q. What can the treated soil be used for?

As treatment temperatures are below 500 degrees celcius, the soils mechanical and geotechical properties are maintained. For example, geotechnical testing of soil treated at Springvale at a treatment temperature of 465 degrees celcius found that soil plasticity limits within the soil decreased and average particle size and optimum moisture content increased within the treated soil resulting in the soil being more suitable for soil compaction.

Q. How will stormwater be controlled onsite?

Storm water from the plant area will be managed under the "first flush" philosophy and will be collected stored and analysed for the presence of contaminants prior to reuse/discharge. In the event of a spillage or high rain event, Innova will have the ability to close existing Dow stormwater gates and collect any runoff, eliminating the potential of discharging untested stormwater outside the compound.

Q. Will you be treating heavy metals or asbestos?

Innova's centre for site remediation will not be accepting heavy metal contaminated soils. Extensive testing of soils prior to transportation to the centre will be undertaken to identify potential heavy metal contamination within the soil.

Q. What environmental monitoring will be undertaken?

Environmental monitoring will be performed in compliance with the license conditions applied to Innova's centre for site remediation. It will involve stack emmisions monitoring from the plant, dust and odour monitoring from the soil storage shed and environmental analysis of soils.

Q. Will environmental performance be availiable to the public or only the EPA?

Environmental compliance information will be available through ACNCG meetings and documentation.

Q. How will dust and odour be controlled so there is no impact to my neighbourhood?

There will not be any impact on local communities from the generation of dust and odour. Soil will be covered at all times when transported to the centre. Soil will be unloaded and stored in a warehouse under negative pressure, with all air travelling through a dust filtration/carbon bed odour unit prior to discharge.

All potential dust and odour generating activities, such as screening and crushing activities will be conducted within the soil storage shed.

Treated soil will be stored within the concrete validation bays covered by industrial tarps and kept moist through water sprays.