Enhanced Remediation Strategy

The Honourable Michael Knight, Minister for the Olympics, announced the commencement of the Enhanced Remediation Strategy (ERS) in March 1998, quite late in the remediation process. The ERS was to provide an environmental legacy to the community from the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. THe ERS was the basis of the framework put in place by the Olympic Coordination Authority to enable management of the site beyond the Olympic Games. The AUD$12 million assigned had been saved from the remediation budget through using innovative remediation techniques. Remdiation works were well underway at this time but the community had concerns about the ability of the government to manage the site after the Games were over and the excitement (and possibly the funding) died down. The community needed reassurances about the level of risk and that resources would be available to ensure ecological sustainability and long term site safety. This program included:

• The establishment of an environmental reference group, including representatives from the community, environmental groups and scientific experts
• Biological monitoring, which would go beyond legislative requirements
• A coordination catchment approach to remediation, compiling corporate memory into a GIS based decision-support system
• An environmental sciences education program that would involve primary, secondary and tertiary students in the monitoring programs
• An advocacy program in which experiences and technologies would be documented for the benefit of industry involved in remediation elsewhere.

The enhanced remediation strategy did provide a post-Olympic legacy, with the development of education programs and sharing of information through the website, an Environmental databank that has captured much of the corporate memory and provided information through the research programs (which has been used in the preparation of corporate documents The ERS was managed through the Ecology Programs which tried to bring a new approach to old problems, through improving understanding of remediation, better utilising existing knowledge and enhancing technical capacity.

The Ecology Programs had four interlinked programs:

• The Ecology Data Bank Program: The Databank is a computer-based information system that provides a history of land use at the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Bank utilises the thousands of plans, maps, reports and images that were commissioned as part of site clean up projects. These documents represent a significant public investment in knowledge and the Bank aims to secure this investment as an information legacy for future generations. The Data Bank has been built using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. GIS involves the development of a computerised overlay of interactive map layers
  
  
• Biological Sciences and Long Term Management Plan: This program provided for assessment of the site condition, biological impact monitoring and validation. Programs included toxicity testing of leachate, a weight of evidence approach (toxicological, biological and chemical monitoring) for studying estuarine waterway health, compilation of previous monitoring data for review and assessment, preparation of GIS maps and bioremediation studies. Information gathered was used for education and training as well as for some site management decisions. Data was compiled in the Ecology Databank. A number of reports were generated that provided information on managing remediated lands and enhancing public confidence about the Parklands safety over the long term.
  
  
• Education and community development: This program took up the challenge of enhanced information delivery regarding pollution in the Urban Catchment. It was designed to provide quality information about how air, soil and water pollution affects catchment quality. Program activities were supported by the educational resources from the Ecology Data Bank and complemented, rather than replaced the community projects that were occurring in the catchment. Deliverables included educational CDs, brochures, community events and a schedule of presentations and educational workshops.
  

• The Secretariat: Secretariat was the cornerstone of the Ecology Programs, providing management and co-ordination services for the other Programs. It prepared publications, liaised with community members interested in pollution and remediation issues and managed the Homebush Bay Environment Reference Group and their requirements (read more about HBERG here).

Circus Solaris spin the catchment wheel
at Auburn Environment Expo 2000