A NSW Government-commissioned investigation has recommended a "major review" into how the Environment Protection Authority handles contaminated land.
It called for the public to be given more information about the risks posed by highly polluted land, and proposed a "very fast response mechanism" be investigated.
![Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton says she will consider the findings of the review.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170711092720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/0/f/s/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx1h4y.png/1498725771445.jpg)
The review, sparked by a Fairfax Media investigation, found the NSW EPA's internal guidelines were too complex while providing no "clear guidance as to why decisions are taken".
It also questioned if officers were taking too long to assess highly contaminated sites and said the public had "inadequate" information about contamination levels.
![An undated image of the former arsenic factory.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170711092720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/e/e/0/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx1h4y.png/1498725771445.jpg)
The review recommended the EPA consider a "very fast response mechanism" for speedier responses to highly polluted sites. It also recommended clear risk assessments be made public, possibly on a "low, medium or high" scale.
It was the third review in four years to criticise the EPA's management of contaminated land, and itself called for a further review to fix the "largely unwieldy" guidelines.
The authors – emeritus professors Stephen Leeder, a public health expert, and Chris Fell, a chemical engineer – singled out for criticism the EPA's lengthy 158-page internal guidance.
While "strong on technical detail", they said it provided "scant procedural guidance for making a decision as to whether a particular piece of land is 'significantly contaminated' ".
The lack of guidance came despite a well-established national framework, the authors found.
NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton ordered the "urgent" review last month after Fairfax Media revealed homes on significantly contaminated land had not been declared contaminated to protect property prices.
In May, Fairfax Media reported EPA officers were trying to avoid "unnecessarily blighting" residential land values, a practice detailed in a government review by Macquarie University professor Mark Taylor.
Since the Taylor report, the EPA has updated its internal guidelines. The review released on Thursday did not say if property prices were still considered when declaring land contaminated.
But it found in cases where contamination of homes was being managed "it would appear sensible not to declare ... sites as significantly contaminated".
Examples mentioned in the report included "mercury and chlor-organic chemical pollution at Botany, radioactive and other pollution at Hunters Hill, PFAS pollution at Williamtown and trichloroethylene pollution in Waterloo".
Staff workloads were also raised. Eleven staff members were directly involved in the assessment and monitoring of contaminated lands, each tasked with 20 to 30 sites.
The authors recommended the EPA consider making greater use of site auditors as other states did.
The "high level" review conducted four interviews over two weeks. The authors said they did not have time to review the time frames for EPA responses to contamination reports.
Ms Upton provided a statement but did not answer questions from Fairfax Media. Ms Upton said she would consider the recommendations and "respond as soon as appropriate". "While the review acknowledges the EPA compares favourably in handling contaminated sites with the best Australian and international jurisdictions, it does find the guidelines complex and lengthy," she said.
The EPA directed questions to Ms Upton.
Last month, a Fairfax Media investigation found a lax approach to the regulation of chemical contamination at numerous sites.
In one example, a Sutherland petrol station known to the EPA leached carcinogens into groundwater for about 20 years. The ground water migrated onto a Sydney Water site that provided drinking for more than 100,000 households.
In another case, a former arsenic factory known to authorities since the late 1930s had polluted land – with chemicals 1000 times the safe limit – where children had been known to ride BMX bikes.