Environmental Impact Assessment
HBI can provide a complete service for the range of environmental impact assessments required by local, State and Commonwealth government authorities.
Our experience with complex, often community sensitive planning projects can add value to your project and assist with making what can be an arduous convoluted process, as painless as possible.
Impact Assessment studies include Review of Environmental Factors, Environmental Impact Statements, Local Environmental Studies and assessment of impacts for Feasibility studies.
Key personnel have worked on numerous environmentally or socially sensitive projects including:
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land capability assessment and preparation of a master plan for the Hornsby Quarry. The multidisciplinary project covered a range of environmental and engineering aspects each having bearing on the envelope of land available for future use. Key technical studies undertaken to identify constraints included geotechnical, hydrogeological, infrastructure, contaminated land, bushfire, heritage and flora and fauna. Visual, traffic and urban planning capabilities were also important aspects in the development of the master plan. Options investigated included open space, residential, recreational, and small scale commercial land uses.
preparation of an environmental impact statement for the remediation of the HomebushBay and the adjacent former Union Carbide site, for NSW Waterways, and a private client. The operations of the former Union Carbide facility have led to contamination of the bay, and the adjacent land sites, through reclamation of land using spent materials resulting from the chemicals manufacture process. Typically chemicals include highly carcinogenic compounds such as DDT, DDE, dioxins and furans. This is a remediation project that will occur over a five year period. Some 400,000 cubic metres of material is to be excavated, remediated and re-used beneficially. The material requiring treatment is to be processed through a thermal treatment plant. Staged release of the land following remediation means that residential development and possibly occupation will occur in the same period as the earthworks. Seen as highly sensitive, this project is ongoing and is closely monitored by stakeholders including Greenpeace, a plethora of government departments, the community and international technical bodies.
preparation of an environmental impact statement for the development of a proposed waste management centre to be located in the HunterValley, NSW, private client. This project proposed re-use of a mine site void as putrescible landfill space. The EIS covered all aspects of the economic, environmental and social issues associated with the development of a facility of this nature. Aspects of particular interest included the influence of filling the void on regional hydrogeological conditions, the potential for dust and odour to be generated, and the impact on traffic on access roads.
review of environmental factors for a modification to the approved consent for the Cross City Tunnel project for the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW. The proposed relocation of the western ventilation stack for the tunnel was proposed as a solution to address impacts of the approved location on regional air quality, and local issues such as traffic/transport issues, construction noise and vibration, water quality and flooding, settlement and groundwater, acid sulphate soils, visual amenity, and urban design.
