Call for signage to be put up warning of Truegain contamination ahead of NSW government remediation work

The Newcastle Herald reported previously that the government acquired the property in the Rutherford industrial estate and plans to spend $20 million demolishing the structures at the site before remediating it.

Rutherford resident Ramona Cocco, a leading voice in calling for action over the decades of contamination, said that signage should be put up near the site warning people about the pollution, particularly given the nearby Heritage Parc housing estate, motorcycle club and dog park.

"All this time there's an area around there being built up," she said.

"There are no signs anywhere. People are not even aware that the site is there.

"There should be signage around for people to know. There's absolutely nothing anywhere.

"I know a lot of younger people who aren't aware of it and they're building their lives up around that place."

The government acquired the site after an independent valuer deemed the Kyle Street property to be worth nothing.

The Herald's Dirty Deeds campaign shed light on years of contamination at Truegain - also known as Australian Waste Oil Refineries - with waste dumped onto the ground and into a nearby creek.

Truegain went into liquidation in 2016 and the site was abandoned after Hunter Water discovered the business was releasing PFAS into the sewer. Former company director and site owner Robert Pullinger is facing criminal proceedings after he declared bankruptcy when the EPA ordered him to pay $1.2 million to cover the cost of remediation.

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