Before
This year, we finished a two-year project to remediate an evaporation pond at our Cliff Head facility that was a legacy of the site’s former land use. Due to the pond’s history of different uses, long term evaporation effects and the discovery of low levels of hydrocarbons, the pond had become a hyper-saline environment with salt crusts, not only at the perimeter of the lake but also forming a layer at the sediment/water interface. The absence of algae indicates that the environment was inhospitable to the normal flora that is expected in solar evaporation ponds.
After
A remediation plan was implemented by ROC to convert this pond back to its natural state and make it safe enough for use as a fire water sump for fighting bush fires – an important community service. Approval was given by the Western Australian Government Department of Environment and Conservation to evaporate the pond. We then removed the sediment from site as solid waste utilising a waste management contractor. The pond was re-filled using fresh water and was tested by a third party. The presence of hydrocarbons was eliminated.
