A milestone for the Latrobe Valley has been reached with the completion of the Energy Brix Australia Corporation Pty Ltd (EBAC) Demolition Project.

PwC, liquidators of EBAC, has notified the State Government that it relinquished control of the site yesterday and will continue to manage it for a further 14 days.

EBAC Remediation General Manager, Barry Dungey, said it was a tribute to everyone involved in the project that it had been completed safely and efficiently with no environmental impacts on the Latrobe Valley community.

“Significantly more asbestos was found during demolition than listed on site drawings, yet the project has continued to maintain its impeccable environmental record,” Mr Dungey said.

When the demolition started in January 2019, the original estimate of asbestos to be removed was 7600 cubic metres. The final total removed was around 40,500 cubic metres.

Mr Dungey said no asbestos fibre readings were recorded outside of the removal areas throughout the entire project and no environmental incidents occurred.

“All scheduled building collapses went exactly to plan and safety records were extremely good given the high risk work involved.”

Some key highlights included:
• 18,000 tonnes of steel recycled from the site
• Approximately 28,000 hours of local employment
• Significant use of local contractors

Mr Dungey thanked all the stakeholders for their input into the project over the last two years.

“We were always open and transparent with the local community and despite initial concerns from some residents, we alleviated these concerns through our engagement and demonstrated that the safety of our community and our workers was at the forefront of everything we did.,” he said.

The Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance now represents the state in any further matters relating to the site, including the remediation and disposal of contaminated materials.

Gippsland Infrastructure will continue to have a presence on the site and also investigate development options for the site. Full security coverage will remain on site.