Ganbara Facility Services was contracted by the South Australian Government to project manage the remediation of a decommissioned rural landfill site.
The site was located near an Indigenous rural township south-east of Adelaide named Raukkan, on Ngarrindjeri land, approximately 150 kilometres south-east of Adelaide.
ServiceFM contracted Karta Indigenous Services to undertake the civil construction program.
Over a period of one month, Karta completed the project which required:
- The removal and disposal of above ground waste
- Filling in the site’s trenches
- Compaction and capping of the landfill site, and
- The installation of appropriate signs
Challenges successfully negotiated by the project managers and its contractor included the hilly location and sometimes inclement and windy weather conditions.
Due to the lack of fencing and the time elapsed since the site had been decommissioned there was also a large amount of loose waste that had spread through the ‘clean dirt’.
That issue was solved by using heavy machinery to clear away the loose surface rubbish and transferring it to an additional 2.5-metre deep cell that had been specifically excavated for the purpose.
Rubbish was sifted from the contaminated soil, which was then reused as part of the site compaction and capping process.
Around 10,000 cubic metres of soil and rubbish was estimated to have been managed by compaction of the site.
The project’s completion meant the site, surrounded by cropping land, could again be returned to farming activities. A new crop was sown just weeks after the work was completed, further highlighting the operation’s success.
Throughout the project Ganbara employees monitored the ongoing works, ensuring that all the tender guidelines were being met.
It is an important job and as part of a larger suite of work that is going on for this community and other communities. It’s beautiful land, the community is very proud of the community they have and where it’s situated and were keen to see the land returned to a much better state.
Stuart Sturgess, Program Manager Municipal Services Aboriginal Lands
