More than 260,000 Australian sites have been identified as possible toxic contamination hotspots in a new report by award-winning mapping and spatial intelligence experts.
Pioneering research that has been 10 years in the making raises red flags over hundreds of thousands of former industrial sites where potentially deadly poisons – including forever chemicals like PFAS – are buried and seeping into the soil.
Painstaking analysis by Lotsearch of more than three million businesses used optical character recognition software and AI to scan through old phone books, 50,000 historic maps and millions of arial photos as well as government data.
“We have pioneered the development of environmental information and insights here in Australia and identified over 260,000 known and potentially contaminated sites across the country,” says Lotsearch co-founder Howard Waldron.
“Our database is the largest and most accurate available in Australia.
“We have scanned, extracted and digitised all that information to provide high-level insights on the known and potential contamination issues across Australia,” says Waldron.
“It was a ginormous task considering the sheer geographical size of the country.”
Waldron says that while not all sites will still be contaminated, potential issues exist.
“We are dealing with a legacy of an industrial past and that’s now often where the towns and cities are growing,” he explained.
“This is where our research is invaluable – identifying the risk hotspots so environmental consultants can then carry out the appropriate testing and assessments of a site.”
The research by the Lotsearch team is featured in the latest edition of Australian Conveyancer magazine.
It uncovers a landscape dotted by potentially hazardous chemicals left over from munitions plants, gasworks, dry cleaning businesses, service stations and the by-products of firefighting foam.
Magazine publisher triSearch CEO Chris Gibbs said: “It has been fantastic to work with such a passionate team at Lotsearch to uncover this unwanted legacy from our industrial past.
“They have opened our eyes and left us with an incredible amount to think about – which is what Australian Conveyancer is all about, highlighting challenges and insights on how to overcome them.”
