Heritage buildings.

Courtesy of Kevin ODaly, Aspect Photography

Contaminated land.

Monitoring and advice.

Environmental Services

Due diligence assessments

GHD has undertaken many due diligence assessments to identify and quantify the environmental liabilities of businesses. This work requires considerable skill and experience. Usually the time scale is short, and information on which the identification and assessment of environmental liabilities must be based is limited and incomplete. GHD staff have carried out environmental due diligence assessments for the sale of airlines (with a large number of airports and supporting facilities), Defence establishments, power utilities, gas and oil production and distribution facilities, tyre production, chemicals shipping terminals, a major steel business and many others. This work has expanded internationally for Coca-Cola Amatil throughout Australia and New Zealand, and the Coca-Cola Export Corporation in the Philippines. Our staff deliver high-profile national projects for corporate transactions and government privatisation. Clients include: Mayne Property Group, TESNA, Taiwan Sugar and GoodYear.

Urban development and the natural environment

Coombabah Creek and its Ramsar declared estuarine wetland on Queensland's Gold Coast is recognised internationally as an important habitat for migratory bird species. Urban development of the catchment area and pressure on the waterway, however, has been extensive. GHD was commissioned to assess the condition of the waterway and determine strategies for its sustainable management. Our ecological surveys, modeling, geomorphology, development of catchment specific water quality objectives and community consultation delivered practical and specific actions for the sustainable management of this unique natural system.

Telstra site divestment project

GHD has provided the complete suite of site assessments, remediation and validation services to Telstra for the divestment of its depot and telephone exchange sites throughout Australia.

Multi site EMS

GHD developed a corporate EMS and a template site EMS, along with system procedures and forms for Nestl Australia. GHD also conducted environmental audits at Nestl manufacturing sites in NSW, Victoria and New Zealand. An Environmental Improvement Plan was developed at each factory on completion of the audit.

Environmental planning
GHD prepared an EIS for a 132kV cable tunnel under Sydney's CBD to augment the electricity supply for the inner-city. The main issues focused on noise and vibration, construction management, traffic, heritage and air quality. An EIS for a cold roll steel mill on Kooragang Island, Newcastle, was recently completed for Protech Steel. The study included air quality, noise, heritage, traffic management, construction management and high-level negotiations with Planning NSW. It also addressed potential impacts on threatened species, such as the Green and Golden Bell Frog. GHD's environmental planning team prepared an EIS for the upgrading of the New England Highway at Devils Pinch, north of Armidale, NSW. This followed an option (route) assessment and a comprehensive community consultation program to determine the best value for money route option. Other challenges included the presence of rare and threatened flora and fauna species.

Power industry environmental audits

GHD recently completed a series of environmental audits for Delta Electricitys facilities and environmental management system. Sites included Wallerawang, Mt Piper, Vales Point and Munmorah power stations. GHD has subsequently developed and delivered environmental training for over 370 employees at those sites.

Increasingly, both the public and private sectors are meeting the challenge to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment. The provision of wide-ranging environmental service to clients is an integral part of GHD's business.

www.ghd.com.au
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Environmental planning.

Aquatic science.

Waste management.

Protecting pristine environments.

GHD's environmental group has earned a reputation for excellence and integrity based on a commitment to high performance standards in environmental planning, engineering, science and management services.
Services

Looking to the future

Complementing environmental services, GHD provides clients with a range of related services in catchment management, stormwater management, irrigation and drainage, wastewater treatment, water quality, urban development, transportation, energy, mining, oil and gas, defence and sustainable development. Globally, government and industry are moving towards ecologically sustainable growth and development. Whether it is the clean up and remediation of past environmental damage, or pollution prevention in current, planned activities, GHD is able to deliver integrated, practical and innovative solutions to assist clients in achieving their goals. Our teams of professionals ensure environmental procedures, plans, systems and responsibilities are clear and effective. We provide clients with the skills they need to achieve necessary approvals and deliver environmental solutions.

Contaminated sites
GHD is Australia's pre-eminent consultancy in assisting the safe development of contaminated land. GHD's teams include accredited auditors and specialist scientists and engineers. The capability of our people has been proven over many years. We have assisted clients to determine the best design for remediation of some of the largest projects of their type in Australia, including the Homebush Bay site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the East Perth Gasworks and the Docklands Gasworks in Melbourne (the largest remediation project ever undertaken in Melbourne). In New Zealand, GHD works with Manukau City Council and Auckland Regional Council to monitor and assess many closed landfills for their environmental, public health and safety impacts.

International projects
Our people have undertaken many significant international projects with private industry and government clients, or through overseas aid-funded initiatives. These projects include cleaner production and waste minimisation and assistance in improving waste disposal in Asia. Examples are the Bapedal and East Java Pollution Control Implementation in 1999 and the Bapedal Regional Network program in Indonesia. In Bangladesh, GHD is leading a team, funded by AusAID, to determine the most effective methods of assisting millions of people at risk of arsenic poisoning from groundwater. In the Philippines, GHD conducted the Environmental Impact Assessment and EIS for the proposed Amstel ship dismantling and recycling facility. Our Manila-based team also prepared a coastal management plan integrating protection and enhancement of the coastal environment with mining operations of the polymetallic mine on Rapu Rapu Island. Mirant Philippines commissioned GHD to monitor agricultural resources and groundwater as part of regulatory controls applied to a 700MW coal fired power plant. In the Middle East, GHD has undertaken planning and design for a 2,200 lot subdivision, including the EIS. We have also designed and supervised installation of a groundwater monitoring program for the redevelopment of a former petrochemical/fertiliser facility.

Air quality, modelling noise and odour control Aquatic sciences, marine biology Cleaner production and eco-efficiency Community consultation Contaminated site assessment/remediation Corporate reporting Environmental audits Environmental due diligence Environmental impact assessment Environmental management Environmental planning and approvals Environmental risk management Expert witness Forestry and carbon sequestration greenhouse gas assessment

Dryland salinity management

Dryland salinity in Western Australia now affects more than 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land. GHD's engineering solutions bring new hope to combating the problem and preventing losses of more than $35 million of annual income from agriculture. Our innovative work in the Beacon River area shows that engineeringbased solutions are the only cost-effective way to manage dryland salinity in the short to medium term. We are offering solutions that were not previously possible. GHD is also conducting forestry plantation research in central Queensland. Two hybrid eucalyptus varieties developed for a planned 50,000ha forest could also be used for reafforestation of arid land and areas affected by dryland salinity.

Our experience
Aquatic sciences
GHD Aquatic Sciences has pioneered the development of the Reactive Monitoring Protocol, a program of monitoring and management for responsive environmental protection in marine and coastal development activities. GHD's services have been used to help protect coral reefs and mangrove systems on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and in harbour and port developments. Our water quality assessment tools help determine the relationship between land use inputs, physical processes and the aquatic environment.

BHP Steel Port Kembla No.2 Steelworks

GHD's team used a risk-based approach to investigate, model and assess the potential for contamination at BHP Steel's Port Kembla No.2 site to confirm that any contamination present would not affect the marine environment of Port Kembla Harbour. Completion of a comprehensive site history review, followed by the development of a GIS-based conceptual site model, has enabled subsequent stages of investigation to be cost-effectively targeted to areas of highest risk.

Verification of Westpac's Social Impact Report

GHD and Westpac joined forces to prepare Australia's first-ever triple bottom line report by a financial institution. The Social Impact Report details Westpac's environmental, social and financial performance and governance practices. Not only is Westpac the only Australian financial institution to prepare such a report, it is also one of only five financial institutions globally to release a triple bottom line report conforming to new global standards under the United Nations-sponsored Global Reporting Initiative.

Defence facilities
Landfill design management and rehabilitation Mine rehabilitation and management Natural resource management Hazardous materials audits Waste avoidance, waste management and resource recovery As a member of the Australian Defence environment panel, GHD has successfully investigated and remediated many large Defence sites. These include RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland and the Maralinga Nuclear Test Facility in South Australia.