Power Station Site Remediation

As with the associated mine site, our strong commitment to health, safety and protection of the environment are key priorities for the decommissioning and remediation of the former power station site.

Decommissioning

Decommissioning of the power station site is complete. This milestone, achieved in 2019, included removing and recycling the power station structure and associated equipment.

More than 10,000 tonnes of steel was recycled, approximately 30,000 tonnes of concrete was recovered for recycling and the equivalent of 12 kilometres of underground services were removed.

In addition, we removed the transmission line infrastructure between our Anglesea site and our former Point Henry smelter. More than 42 kilometres of transmission lines and 103 towers were removed with materials including steel and aluminium recycled.

On the power station site, the industrial stack has been retained for potential re-purposing as outlined in the Alcoa Freehold Concept Master Plan Anglesea.

Environmental Remediation

Protecting and preserving the environment is core to our values and drives our commitment to the highest standards of environmental performance.

We are managing the remediation of the power station site in line with the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999 (as amended 2013).

EPA Victoria sets the regulatory standards for remediation activities through statutory notices such as Clean Up Notices. These require us to manage environmental contamination in preparation for future use. An EPA-appointed auditor assesses these activities and provides independent reports to EPA Victoria. Additionally, we are required to provide six-monthly updates to EPA Victoria.

In March 2021, we submitted an Environmental Assessment Report to EPA Victoria in accordance with Clean Up Notice 90011694. The report was a culmination of site investigations inclusive of a comprehensive sampling and analysis program.

Importantly, to date Alcoa and the EPA-appointed auditor have not identified any unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

Remediation works are developed by our environmental consultants and overseen by the EPA-appointed auditor.


Landfill Closure

Since 1992, under a licence with EPA Victoria, we have managed an onsite landfill to dispose of asbestos material used in the construction of the power station.

The material was progressively removed during major maintenance activities while the site operated and during decommissioning activities following site closure. The landfill has been permanently capped and closed in line with EPA licence requirements as part of the site's remediation.