Site Contamination, Clovelly Park and Mitchell Park

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:26): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation questions relating to the site contamination at Clovelly Park and Mitchell Park.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In his ministerial statement yesterday the minister said that in July a voluntary relocation plan was initiated which aimed to relocate the tenants of 23 Housing SA properties in Clovelly Park before the end of the year. The minister also advised that, while four tenants have indicated that they do not wish to be relocated, these residents have been offered properties to which they can relocate. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can the minister assure the council that he accurately described the relocation plan as voluntary when residents who have expressed their desire not to relocate have had alternative homes put to them to 'advance their relocation'?

2. If a resident does not choose to voluntarily relocate, will they be involuntarily relocated?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:27): I thank the honourable member for his most important question and for giving me the opportunity to put back on the record again some of the important comments that I made yesterday in my ministerial statement.

It is important to understand the context around the honourable member's question, and I think I will be the person probably best placed to judge how much of that context he needs. The EPA, as many members will know, is undertaking further assessment work to determine the nature and extent of groundwater, soil and soil vapour contamination in the areas to the south of the relocation area in Clovelly Park and west into Mitchell Park.

A drilling program commenced on 27 August and I am advised it is completed. Sampling of groundwater, soil and soil vapour commenced on Monday 13 October and is also now complete, I am advised. Following a full technical assessment of the data throughout November the information and findings will be available very soon, and the key report to be delivered is a human health risk assessment, including a vapour intrusion risk assessment. I covered that yesterday. The document will contain the outcomes and findings from the comprehensive data assessment.

The assessment program includes the drilling of a total of approximately 237 locations, including 33 groundwater wells, 30 soil bore holes, and 170 soil vapour probes. The assessment program also included undertaking outdoor air sampling, installing soil vapour probes in a section of the sewer and stormwater trenches to investigate whether the trench was a potential preferential pathway, drilling soil vapour probes underneath the floor of six vacant Housing SA properties, and installing one small air sampler within each of the six vacant Housing SA properties.

In terms of the residents and the offer for relocation, I gave those figures yesterday. I understand that I can now give an update from this morning: the total properties identified for relocation of residents is 31, and a total of two private properties, and there were 23 tenanted Housing SA properties. Housing SA tenanted properties relocated to date is 10; Housing SA tenanted properties committed to relocate is now eight; and Housing SA tenanted properties remaining to be relocated is five.

In relation to advice about whether tenants who wish to stay can stay, pending further information arising from our investigations—of course, everything is contingent on those scientific findings—we have always said that, in the period of time when we announced the further testing and the determination of those findings, we thought that, in an abundance of caution, tenants would be advised to relocate. That was our view, but we said at the time that would be a voluntary process, and the government maintains that position.