There are financial banks, blood banks and even food banks.
But did you know that at Gillman, near Port Adelaide, there’s a rather unusual type of bank that many people have probably never considered before – a soil bank.
Renewal SA’s Soil Bank is a soil recycling facility which helps to reduce the amount of soil sent to landfill from government projects in SA by reusing it on government sites that require fill. It receives soil from local, state and federal government projects and finds new ways to use it.
Of course, every bank needs staff, and in this case it’s Monica Bosco, Environment Services Lead at Renewal SA, overseeing operations.
Monica joined Renewal SA – the South Australian Government's leading urban development agency – three-and-a-half years ago after working for 19 years in environmental compliance.
With a degree in Design Studies (Architecture) as well as a Bachelor of Applied Science, she says she feels like she’s landed in the perfect place with Renewal SA.
"My architecture studies – even though I don’t use them in this role – marries well with Renewal SA as it gives you some background and understanding of the construction and building side of things," Monica says.
And the "construction and building side" is indeed exciting, with Renewal SA currently working on a range of projects including Southwark Grounds, Tonsley Innovation District and Forestville (pictured).
But with major development comes major earthmoving, and that’s where Monica and the Soil Bank enter the picture.
"We work within a couple of frameworks," she says.
"We work within the site contamination legislation administered by the EPA (Environment Protection Authority), and the planning legislation, combined the legislation requires that the land is safe and suitable for the proposed end land use."
Monica says that while the previous life of any parcel of land can give clues to what contamination might be found in the soil, there were always surprises.
"You really have to get in there and start testing," she says.
"For example we’re involved with the Forestville former Le Cornu site.
"That used to be a Chrysler factory, and when Chrysler left much of the site was bituminised without much thought to what might be under there.
"After demolition we had to test the whole site and found pockets of contamination leftover from the Chrysler days – solvents, cleaners, and other residual chemicals causing contamination.
"So we remediated that site and now it’s on it’s way to being a residential development."
GROUND ZERO: SOIL BANK FACTS
- Since opening in 2017, Soil Bank has accepted around 650,000 tonnes of soil, primarily fro
m large residential developments such as Bowden, Prospect Corner, Lot Fourteen and Forestville. - It’s also being used as a storage facility for bricks and other materials saved during work on government development sites, that will eventually be reused within Renewal SA projects.
- To date, Soil Bank has supplied nearly 150,000 tonnes of soil to state, local and federal government projects.
- Soil Bank is an Environment Protection Authority (EPA)-licensed facility, opened by Renewal SA to receive and supply soil associated with metropolitan development projects and other state government initiatives.
- Although there are private industries operating in the same wheelhouse as Soil Bank servicing private developers and large-scale infrastructure projects, this facility was established to receive and redistribute excess soil from public infrastructure projects. When soil supply and demand requirements don’t align, the Soil Bank is able to stockpile material in preparation for reuse.
- Soil Bank’s team is made up of qualified environmental advisors, who work to ensure valuable material is returned to the intergovernmental supply chain rather than ending up in landfill.
For more information on Renewal SA and the work currently underway visit renewal.sa.gov.au
