Further delay in the clean-up of radioactive contamination at Nelson Parade

NORTHERN DISTRICT TIMES: Hunters Hill Mayor Richard Quinn has slammed the delay of the removal of radioactive waste from Nelson Parade

Mario Reciti and son James who also live in the contaminated street.

Hunters Hill Mayor Richard Quinn has slammed the delay of the removal of radioactive waste from Nelson Parade, calling the situation “gravely disappointing.”

A Government Property NSW report released last week revealed that the clean-up of radioactive waste that was scheduled to commence earlier this year has been delayed until 2016-17 with the completion of the process in 2018-19.

The delay is due to a change in the location of where the waste will be removed to, after the Baird Government’s original plans to transfer the waste to Kemps Creek in Western Sydney were scrapped following public uproar from Kemps Creek residents.

“I’m certainly not happy,” said Cr Quinn.

George Chrysanthou is one of the residents of Nelson Parade.

“This issue is well over 10 year old. It started when the Labor government offered various proposals for the clean-up, but that was deferred until the Coalition said they would sort it out when they came into power but that too came to a grinding halt.

“Most recently, we were told that it would be resolved prior to the last state election, so to find out that it has been delayed again is gravely disappointing.”

The contamination of Nelson Pde stems from the presence of radioactive waste that developed as a byproduct of a uranium smelting factory that existed on the site in the early 1900s.

The dangers of the contamination were first raised in 2008 when a Parliamentary Inquiry into the site recommended that the waste be removed due to its impact on residents.

Remediation costs of the clean-up have blown out from $12.4 million to $22.5 million primarily as a result of the repeated delays and cannot commence until a suitable location for the waste is found and approved by the Department of Planning and Environment.

Mario Reciti and son James who also live in the contaminated street.

A Government Property NSW spokesman revealed that they will resubmit a revised report on potential locations for the waste “in the coming months.”

According to Phillipa Clarke of the Nelson Parade Action Group, the delay means that the residents of the area will continue to face serious health and economic issues.

“This is terrible news for us.,” she said.

“There are elderly people in this street who are trapped in their homes (and) can’t sell.

“How will they cope with this situation for another four years?”

Originally published as Further delay in the clean-up of radioactive contamination at Nelson Parade