Event Details

PRESENTATIONS

1. Asbestos Remediation and Clean up in Aboriginal Communities and Remote Locations 

The NSW EPA will give an overview of some of the challenges of asbestos remediation in discrete Aboriginal communities.

Speakers

Sally Bowers – Senior Project Officer, Asbestos Coordination – NSW EPASally has over 15 years’ experience in the waste and resource recovery industry. She worked in the NSW EPA’s Waste Compliance Unit before moving to EPA program and strategy work in 2017. She has regulated landfills, compost and resource recovery facilities. Sally has investigated large scale illegal dumping matters, reviewed local and state significant waste planning matters and coordinated the NSW Asbestos Waste Strategy 2019-21. Currently Sally is one of the senior project officers delivering the asbestos remediation project in the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Community and is a member of the NSW Asbestos Coordination Committee Working Group. Sally holds a BA Arts and a Certificate IV in Government (Investigations).

James Green – Project Officer, Asbestos Coordination – NSW EPAJames has over 7 years’ experience in the contaminated land and waste management industry. Before moving to the EPA’s Asbestos Coordination Unit he worked in the private sector as a contaminated land consultant. He has been involved in the remediation and management of various James Hardie legacy asbestos fill sites across western Sydney, the loose fill asbestos insulation program, other large scale asbestos remediation projects and the clean-up of illegally dumped waste. James is working alongside Sally as a project officer delivering the asbestos remediation project in the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Community. James holds a BSc (Geology) and is a NSW licenced asbestos assessor.

2. The Use of Non-Destructive Methods to Excavate in Contaminated Land

The study is aimed at providing scientific evidence to support the granting of an industry-wide exemption for the application of high-pressure jets on asbestos containing soils, which is currently prohibited. The key findings of the study including the development of safe work procedures and guidelines for the industry, waste disposal and decontamination protocols, and the management of cross-contamination will be discussed in the webinar.

Speaker

Associate Professor Payam Zekavat – School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment – Western Sydney UniversityAssoc Prof Payam Zekavat joined WSU in 2017. His research and teaching mainly cover compliance in design and construction. Payam’s research is interdisciplinary in the sense that he looks into the prevalent issue of noncompliance from multiple perspectives of policy and statutory requirements, advanced building technologies, as well as safety and professional obligations. Payam collaborates on different projects, all of which are related to policy, sustainability, and compliance in the built environment. He is currently working on projects related to the use of non-destructive methods to excavate in contaminated lands, compliance with building regulations in bushfire-prone areas, and the compliance of modular construction with building regulations. Payam is a qualified architect, project manager, and building certifier.