Turning out the lights: what is the legacy of the Liddell power station?

Channon will be one of about 100 Liddell workers who will transfer to the nearby Bayswater power station, both bought by AGL for $1.5bn from the New South Wales government in 2014. The remaining 40-odd crew will retire or leave the industry.

AGL expects more than 90% of the materials will be recycled, including 70,000 tonnes of steel, more than the metal used in the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Perhaps more difficult will be disposing of hundreds of thousands of litres of waste oil, acids and sludge and finding uses for a 200-hectare dam containing 39m tonnes of coal ash.

Before then, though, the company will be working to ensure the plant continues to operate safely until its large turbine stops spinning on 28 April.

Brokhof says the ash dam may end up being the most costly part.

Analysis by Environmental Justice Australia of data from the National Pollution Inventory shows Liddell power station recorded a 170% increase in mercury pollution from 16kg in 2021 to 40kg in 2022. Bayswater was the worst plant in the state, with mercury pollution reaching 112kg, Jem Wilson, an EJA spokesperson, said.

The amoeba can cause infection in humans through the nasal sinuses. Potentially fatal cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis are associated with jumping or falling into water, actions that can force water into the nose under pressure, according to a fact sheet pinned to a wall at a lakeside changing rooms.