Terranovis Pty Ltd managed the southern river residential subdivision development. Due to the previous land use activities, the Department of Environment Regulation (DER) required that an appropriate Contaminated Site Investigation (CSI) be undertaken to comply with Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) conditions.
Astron undertook a CSI identifying several areas with fly tipped asbestos fencing along with asbestos fragments buried in shallow soils. A Site Management Plan was developed comprising extensive excavation and removal of the asbestos contaminated material and soils in accordance with Department of Health (DoH: 2009) Guidelines for the assessment, remediation and management of asbestos-contaminated sites in Western Australia. Active dust management procedures along with occupational air monitoring program in accordance with National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC:3003(2005)) Guidance note on the membrane filter method for estimating airborne asbestos fibres 2nd edition were undertaken throughout the remediation activities.
Asbestos air monitoring equipment comprising personal air check pumps (Air Checks 2000 & 5000) with dedicated asbestos cowls were placed on site works, the site boundary and plant working within contaminated areas. The cowls were issued to a NATA accredited laboratory on a daily basis for analytical assessment of asbestos. This allowed for daily assessment of site activities and associated exposure risks to confirm the success, or otherwise, of the site management plan. The results demonstrated that there we no breaches of exposure guidelines throughout the project, indicating that the management plan appropriately controlled potential exposure.
