THE next stage of a major project to clean up the former Truegain industrial site in the Lower Hunter region is set to begin.

Ford Civil has been appointed by Property and Development NSW (PDNSW) on a $5.3 million project to remediate contaminated soil across almost 1.2 hectares of the former oil refinery at Rutherford.

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The second stage of work will be guided by a Remediation Action Plan, developed by Property and Development NSW and environmental consultant Ramboll.

The remedial works will involve the removal of concrete slabs, excavation of contaminated soil and subsurface infrastructure, backfilling the excavation with clean soil and revegetating or resealing the area.

The proposed works have been reviewed and endorsed by a NSW EPA accredited site auditor.

The first stage of the project was completed in 2023 and involved the removal of more than 11,000 tonnes of industrial liquid waste, sludge and above ground infrastructure including storage tanks from the site.

The Truegain site was abandoned in 2016 after the company lost its trade waste permit, had its environment protection licence suspended and entered into liquidation.

In 2021, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) brought proceedings against Truegain director and former owner Robert Pullinger to recover the cost of cleaning up the site.

The Land and Environment Court of NSW ordered Mr Pullinger to pay $1.2 million towards the EPA’s costs.

Stage 2 work is expected to start in the coming weeks and be completed by the end of the year.

Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said, “I understand the local community has been waiting for this site to be cleaned up for over a decade.

“Since coming into Government, we have worked to clean up this site so it can be remediated for future use.

“PDNSW’s Environmental Management Group has done great work across multiple former industrial sites to clean them up and allow them to be re-used safely by local communities.

“Sites include the former Waratah Gasworks in Newcastle and former Hunters Hill radium hill refinery in Sydney.”

Member for Maitland, Jenny Aitchison said the site has been a “difficult contamination issue” for many years.

“This next stage of remediation work brings us another step closer to finally putting this matter behind us.

“Once Stage 2 works are completed, we will explore options to return this site for future community industrial use.”