Twelve Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of asbestos will be buried on the site of the former Liddell Power Station as part of the area's transformation into a clean energy hub.
A State Significant Development application shows 30,000 cubic metres of bonded and friable asbestos will be placed into a specialised concrete cell that will be covered with up to three metres of concrete.
Asbestos was a widely used industrial material during the era of Liddell's construction in the early 1970s.
The plant closed in April 2023 after 52 years of operation.
A significant quantity of asbestos has previously been removed from the plant and buried two asbestos disposal areas located within the solar array and buffer lands.
The planning documents show asbestos contaminated soils, synthetic mineral fibres and asbestos containing materials will be removed during the plant's demolition.
The documents note a particular challenge will be accessing asbestos located in the plant's chimney stacks.
"It may not be reasonably practical to remove all asbestos located in the chimney stacks prior to demolition. In this case, an asbestos removal control plan would be developed in consultation with SafeWork NSW, a risk assessment would be undertaken and mitigation measures most appropriate for the hazards would be Identified," the Liddell Future Land Use and Enabling Works Response to Submissions report says.
"Asbestos would be managed in accordance with Safework NSW requirements with the primary aim to control the risk of occupational exposure. If occupational exposure of asbestos is controlled, then the risks offsite are considered negligible."
AGL considered several options for dealing with asbestos waste but considered the containment cell the best outcome because:
- regional asbestos landfills are small-scale and do not have the capacity for the large volume of waste. An alternate option is the preference of local councils.
- Onsite disposal enables a new purpose-built landfill to be constructed, meeting modern-day standards. AGL as landowner will continue to monitor and maintain the site.
- Onsite disposal is the safest method as it avoids many truck movements of asbestos waste on public highways.
- There are pre-existing asbestos landfill sites at Liddell that were utilised for previous removal campaigns. These sites remain under the care and maintenance of AGL.
"As AGL prepares for the demolition and rehabilitation of the Liddell site, we have lodged a State Significant Development Application with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for the safe demolition and rehabilitation of the power station. This plan includes an asbestos management plan for the safe removal and storage underground at site of any materials that could contain asbestos in line with common industry practice for large-scale industrial demolition," a spokesman said.
The former power station also contains about 70,000 tonnes of metal, including 3000 tonnes of highly valuable non-ferrous metals such as copper and chromium. By comparison, the Sydney Harbour Bridge contains only 50,000 tonnes of steel.
There's also about 120,000 tonnes of concrete that will be crushed and recycled.
The money made from recycling materials will help offset the $225 million that AGL has budgeted for decommissioning and demolition works.
About a million cubic metres of dirt will also be placed over the top of Liddell's 130 hectare ash dam.
AGL has signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate opportunities to recycle coal ash from the nearby Bayswater power station.
