Urunga Wetlands flourish once more
The Urunga Wetlands on the mid-north coast has undergone a remarkable transformation from wasteland to wetland, following an EPA partnership with Crown Lands, Bellingen Shire Council and the Environmental Trust.
Urunga Wetlands
Flora and fauna are once again returning to the wetlands area after contaminated material from a derelict antimony processing plant in the area, was stopped. The plant that had been operating in Urunga since the early 1970s, polluted the wetlands for decades with environmentally-hazardous materials including antimony, arsenic, copper, lead, mercury and cyanide.
In 2011, the EPA issued a management order which required the contamination at the site to be remediated with a goal to see the area opened to public access without any risk to human health.
The site is now open, with a 150m boardwalk made from 100% recycled plastic, allowing visitors to walk out over the wetlands.
EPA Executive Director Hazardous Incidents and Environmental Health Steve Beaman said the project was challenging but well worth the end result.
“I am very pleased that this important clean up project is now complete, making the Urunga wetland and surrounding area a cleaner, safer and more beautiful place to visit”.
You can find the wetlands at 1 Hillside Drive, Urunga, 1.5 km southwest of the town centre.