Toxic waste clean-up order in Port Macquarie

THE Port Macquarie company accused of dumping toxic waste on the banks of the town's river has been ordered to clean up the site.

THE Port Macquarie company accused of dumping toxic waste on the banks of the town's river has been ordered to clean up the site.

It also has to conduct further testing to determine the level of contamination in the waterway.

The order, from the NSW Environment Department, comes just two days after The Australian revealed allegations the Birdon Group had dumped between 6000 and 10,000 tonnes of waste contaminated with the toxic chemical tributyltin (TBT) on the banks of the Hastings River, 9km west of Port Macquarie, before 2006.

A complex and expensive Environment Protection Agency investigation into the contamination started in 2006 but ended in 2008 with no action after the EPA's board accepted external legal advice that a prosecution would not be successful.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott confirmed reports in  The Australian this week he had intervened in the EPA investigation into Birdon, whose then owner Jim Bruce was one of his biggest political donors, but denied acting inappropriately.

The NSW opposition has referred the matter to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Negotiations over the removal of the waste, which locals fear could affect the health of the river and its oyster beds, had failed to resolve the issue.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water said yesterday the group's Birdon Marine division had been issued a "draft clean-up" notice relating to its site on the banks of the Hastings River.

The notice orders Birdon to remove all "organotin" waste, including TBT, that exceeds a specified concentration; to implement measures to prevent further contamination of the river while these works are undertaken; and to conduct additional testing to accurately ascertain the extent of contamination.

The spokesman said the company had seven days to respond, and there were penalties for failing to comply.

He said Birdon had already filed one remediation action plan for the waste, which was rejected by the EPA for not being "of high-enough standard". The Port Macquarie Hastings Council confirmed yesterday it received approval from the EPA to accept the waste at the council tip as far back as mid- to late last year subject to the remediation plan being approved. The spokesman said Birdon had completed stage one of the clean-up of one contaminated site by removing drums of waste stored on it.

Efforts to contact Birdon's managing director Jamie Bruce -- who took over the company after the death of his father, Jim, in 2008 -- were unsuccessful. He has previously stated the company's handling of any waste was appropriate.

TBT, which is highly toxic to shellfish, was banned internationally in 2003 and its disposal has been regulated for more than 15 years.

News of the department's clean-up notice yesterday was greeted with mixed feelings by locals who had been concerned about the site. Environmentalist Stuart Allport, who has been raising concerns about the waste since 2008, was ecstatic.

"It has been so difficult to get an answer out of DECW about this. Now we have a firm resolution that a clean-up order put down on the table is welcomed," he said. "This will add to the whole value of the tourism industry and keep the river clean for generations."

Local oyster farmer Mark Bulley said the clean-up order was "a step in the right direction". "It could take away that stigma. We have the credibility of the whole Hastings Valley here."