Community News

Holsworthy/Menai Fire 2018

On Saturday 14 April 2018, fire broke out at Casula in the south of Sydney. Strong winds spread the blaze south east towards Wattle Grove, Holsworthy, Voyager Point and Pleasure Point, eventually impacting an area of more than 3,800 hectares. The fire is thought to have been deliberately lit.

The fire reached the Benedict Industries quarry at Sandy Point on Saturday evening and the NSW Rural Fire Service dispatched two fire trucks with full crews to the site to protect the offices, workshop, mobile plant and diesel fuel storage facilities.

We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to the men and women who attended our site. Thanks to their professionalism and expertise, no damage to property or personnel was incurred. Further crews commenced backburning on Sunday morning, successfully protecting the Sandy Point and Picnic Point communities.

Benedict Industries were very proud to be able to assist the NSWRFS Aerial Firefighting Helicopters in their efforts. Our onsite dams were a crucial source of water for the Monsoon Buckets used to contain and extinguish the fires over a four day period. Over a megalitre of water was provided by our dams with helicopters queueing up to four at a time to retrieve water.

We would like to commend the NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire & Rescue, the NSW Police and SES as well as the communities in the Holsworthy Menai area. An extremely hazardous situation was brought under control thanks to their skill and professionalism.

The fire is now contained however the NSWRFS will continue to monitor and undertake regular patrols of the fire ground over coming days. Smoke will continue to be visible from the area as unburnt bush, well within containment lines, continues to burn out. Smoke is also likely to settle over parts of the Sutherland Shire, Macarthur, Cumberland and Greater Sydney areas.

For additional information please contact Benedict Industries on (02) 9986 3500.

Benedict Site Manager Wayne Beattie thanks NSW Rural Fire Service

A wall of flames approaches the site

So close - charred trees surround the entry sign.

Information Day

On Sunday 1 May 2016, Benedict Industries held a Community Information Day for local residents to learn about its operations at Sandy Point Quarry and to answer questions regarding the proposed recycling activity.

About 50 residents attended and were driven around parts of the site in mini-buses. During the tour they were able to ask questions of our senior quarry managers.

We explained to residents that if the importation and recycling of materials is approved, Benedict will commit to funding the construction of a $4 million seagull intersection at the quarry entrance to reduce the impact of trucks arriving and departing.

Benedict’s senior quarry managers explained that the company had implemented the use of a polymer sealant on open areas as well as an automated water irrigation system to reduce the incidence of dust emissions on site.

The tour included a stop at the site’s water storage ponds, where residents were shown the quarry’s runoff management system that captures and treats all storm-water run-off to EPA specifications.

Some residents expressed concerns about blasting on site and the effect on their homes. We explained that Benedict has established a blast monitoring station in Sandy Point village and that all the blast results are at about 20 per cent or less of EPA limits.

In relation to recycling, we explained that only sand and sandstone – sourced during construction of major infrastructure activities such as WestConnex – would be blended with sand and sandstone extracted at the quarry and that we were no longer seeking permission to recycle glass or concrete on the site.

Attendees were asked to fill in feedback forms and we were pleased to learn that more than half of those present thought the Information Day was ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ useful in helping them gain a better understanding of the quarry’s current activities and of the proposed recycling activities.

To access more photos of the Information Day, see the Gallery.