Below the Surface

Grey Areas and Loopholes – Where to Draw the Line? This episode dives into the murky waters of our industry's "grey areas", or, if we are re being honest, loopholes . From VENM (Virgin Excavated Natural Material) issues to Council demands for auditors in a gotcha move, to James's creative methods for getting trial waste recycling facilities approved, and even the use of silica...

In a fictitious world where electricity reigns supreme, Gunnar has "invented" a revolutionary engine that uses ... wait for it ... petrol! That’s right, in this universe, electric engines are the norm, and Gunnar is pitching this wild idea of a new type of engine to a venture capitalist, skilfully played by James.  We’re taking a detour from our usual lineup of site contamination, waste...

A re-think of the classic Preliminary Site Assessment => Detailed Site Assessment => Remedial Action Plan scenario. Guest Andrew Kohlrusch, EPA Auditor and contaminated sites expert extraordinaire, joins Gunnar on an excursion to explore a more bespoke way to assess contaminated sites from the initial stages to the final remediation report.  Of course the two veer off into their private live...

Australia's landscapes are in serious need of an injection of TLC (Tender Loving Care, not some dyslexic chlorinated hydrocarbon). TLC and a bit of money. $7.3 Billion per year over 10 years to be more precise, according to a recent report published by The Wentworth Group. Our Guest is The Wentworth Group's Prof Mike Grundy, a former Research Director, Soil and Landscapes with CSIRO, and...

Measure lead levels in blood of house sparrows and accurately predict lead blood levels in children in that town. No way? Absolutely YES WAY! That is exactly what Prof Simon Griffith with his PhD candidate Max Gillings have achieved in one of their recent papers . From the outside it is all so easy. Go to an area with known high lead impact (towns like Broken Hill or Mt Isa come to mind), catch a...

How can young (female) professionals tackle the flood of knowledge they must acquire in a fast-paced consulting environment while at the same time having to deal with sometimes perceived but too often real disapproval by established good old boys in meetings or on construction sites? How can you tackle the ever niggling self-doubt? How can you become more like the you you want yourself to be? Hail...

The EPA names and shames a consultancy for allegedly falsifying reports. Meanwhile clients are beginning to use legal privilege as a strategy to avoid potential subpoenas — just as we anticipated in The Power Grab . On a positive note, thanks to The Policy Predicament (yay!), the EPA has made a change to their website, now featuring all policy and regulatory updates in one easily accessible locati...

We are thrilled to host Andrew Doig from the Australian Sustainable Business Group , who brings a wealth of knowledge on waste services and legislative review. Andrew guides us through the labyrinth of waste management and landfill approval, focusing on the pressing issues in New South Wales. From the Lucas Heights extension to the Woodlawn mine approval, we dissect the challenges of expanding was...

There are few people who know more about the Resource Recovery Framework than this episode’s guest, Jason Scarborough. Jason had worked with the NSW EPA for almost 20 years where amongst other things, he was involved in the development and implementation of the initial Resource Recovery Framework. Four years ago he founded JS Regulatory Services .    That framework has undergone a number of indepe...

This week’s guest is environmental consulting superstar, Ross McFarland . He shares his thoughts on whether samples we take are actually representative of the site conditions.  Is a 250 ml soil sample that is obtained with all our best intentions, a minute 5 g of which is then analysed, actually representative of a large area or of a large volume of soil? Have you ever stood in front of a massive...

Get prosecuted by the EPA and found guilty, get fined several hundred thousand Dollars and make $1.5 Million profit out of that whole scenario.  If that sounds too much like fiction and Ocean's 11-ish, then listen into this episode. Many years ago James was involved in a big EPA investigation surrounding the Bowral Landfill.  Gunnar and James talk about  how James got involved in that investi...

Bond Villains, Broke Parents and Asbestos in Soils Assessments: A Wild Ride with Pierina Otness Gunnar and James are back with another high-flying guest on their podcast! Somehow this episode feels very James Bond-ish. Scene 1: The Asbestos Assessment Authority Gunnar and James, sit down with none other than Pierina Otness - the undisputed authority on asbestos in soils (ASBINS) assessments.  Scen...

The changed PoEO Act - way more than just increased penalties. Gunnar and James found themselves in the company of not one, but two lawyers. While that usually is not a good thing no matter how you look at it, this time it’s not about courtrooms and objections, but it’s about environmental law. Darren Bick and Daniel Webster, Environmental and Planning Lawyers extraordinaire, joined the two for a...

Part II of the interview with Canadian Chemical Processes Expert Paul Martin. In case you have missed it, in Part I Paul talked us through the, rather inconvenient facts about hydrogen as a means to export energy for Australia and why that is a rather far fetched idea. Here is a link to Part 1 of the interview .  In this episode Gunnar and James talk about: The best uses for hydrogen How we will b...

Gunnar and James are talking to Paul Martin, a Canadian Chemical Process Development Expert and tireless advocate for a fossil fuel free future. This first part of a two-part episode looks into whether the claims that Australia has a future as a new energy provider to the world via Hydrogen exports are based on reality or wishful thinking. Paul Martin calls a lot of it #hopium - that should give y...

Our guest on this episode is Dr Adrian Heggie. Over the past decade Adrian has developed an amazingly simple method for the delineation of sub-surface hydrocarbon plumes (chlorinated or not) by measuring the aboveground concentration these plumes cause. His method is fast, accurate, inexpensive and most of all, does not require any invasive ground work. If you think this sounds too good to be true...

In this episode, we delve into the question of dangers lurking in unsuspecting areas like our backyards and public parks. Join Gunnar and James as they discuss with researcher Ana Serra the findings of her study into asbestos exposure from seemingly mundane activities like lawn mowing or soil disturbance during landscaping or Council maintenance work.   How many respirable fibres get released  whe...

James twisted Gunnar's arm and convinced him to record a podcast about issues around policies in the environmental industry. Why does the EPA quietly make updates to definitions but does not tell anyone about it? Why are there 'internal policies' that are not written down that the EPA and some local governments enforce willy nilly. Why is there no central spot for policy updates in...

Sydney is still in the grip of an asbestos panic. In this episode we sit down with Philip Hibbs, one of the ultimate OH/S and asbestos experts in Australia. We chat about what he calls "Mulchgate", the actual risk to humans posed as a result, other risks humans are exposed to, we bag all sorts of regulators and organisations for their lack of leadership and we are having a fair bit of fu...

Bonded asbestos fragments have been found in mulch in a brand-new park in Sydney's suburb Rozelle. The ensuing panic in the public, associated finger pointing and running for cover by contractors, suppliers, regulators and of course politicians was as expected as it was to a degree amusing.   Gunnar and James simply had to talk about this.  The episode was recorded on Thursday 8 February 2024...