Port Stanvac, South Australia
Port Stanvac is located in the suburb of Lonsdale south of Adelaide city centre in South Australia. It was announced in 1958 that a refinery would be built there and that it would begin refining crude oil in 1963, with a capacity of 3.3 million tons per annum, with the refinery to be owned by Exxon Mobil. The refinery has not been operational since 2003 and this has resulted in the loss of over 400 jobs. The 239 hectare site at Port Stanvac is being demolished and cleaned up through to 2019. If the site is not remediated by 2019, Mobil will face penalties. When this is done there are plans for the land to be sold in phases.
Port Stanvac Jetty
The demolition of the former oil refinery is set to begin early in 2012 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. It has been reported in the Southern Times Messenger weekly newspaper that EXXON Mobil has offered the Port Stanvac Jetty to the City of Onkaparinga. This is to allow anglers and divers the hope that one day the jetty will be used for recreational fishing and diving.[1]
The Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg said any responsibility for the jetty should fall to the State Government. Without using a boat, you really only have the Port Noarlunga Reef to dive off in the metropolitan area. So Port Stanvac could become a tourism attraction just like the Rapid Bay Jetty. However Onkaparinga city development manager Terry Sutcliffe said one of the council’s aims was to see the jetty used as port for local industries and said the council would need to consider maintenance and liability costs if it chose to take over the jetty.