Authorities have defended the extended lockdown of Mitchell, as frustrated business owners began to return to work late yesterday.
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Tooth Street, Pelle Street and most of Dacre Street were reopened just before 3.30pm, after the Environmental Protection Authority finished cleaning chemical residue left by the toxic blaze on Friday.
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A small portion of Dacre Street will remain closed outside the factory site, and a number of adjacent buildings are still fenced off.
Many business owners rushed back to their offices as the lockdown was lifted to prepare to resume trade today.
Xibit Printers owner Elia Salloum said the lockdown had left his business facing a large loss of trade and a significant backlog of work.
''[I've been] getting the power back on, turned everything back on, getting everything ready, and going through all the emails,'' Mr Salloum said.
''The boys are all coming in early and unfortunately we're going to have to do late hours just to catch up with all the work,'' he said.
He was hoping insurance would cover the extra wages and overtime he'd have to pay his staff to catch up.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher met about 60 business owners yesterday.
Ms Gallagher apologised to businesses for the impact on trade, and conceded that she should have met owners on Monday morning.
She said the Government was still considering whether to compensate affected businesses.
A number of business owners told The Canberra Times that the meeting had been constructive, and felt the Government had listened to their concerns over a significant lack of communication, particularly from Canberra Connect.
But Mr Salloum said many owners had not been made aware of the meeting, and had either missed it or arrived too late to air their concerns. He also criticised Canberra Connect for being unable to provide meaningful information, and said he had been hung up on twice by staff.
Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate director-general David Papps defended the lockdown of Mitchell over Monday and yesterday, saying it was absolutely necessary.
Mr Papps said the Environmental Protection Authority had needed a controlled environment to conduct the wash-down of chemical residue throughout the industrial estate.
But Bob Walker, the owner of Bob Walker's Carpets, which is two doors down from the ruined factory, said the lockdown had been costly, particularly for sub-contractors.
''I've got guys that haven't had any work all week, they're not going to get paid,'' he said.
''They can't go work for other shops because there's not a lot of work around Canberra for these guys.''
He said the company now had a significant backlog of work.
Toxic sludge and liquid will be removed from the factory itself, in what Mr Papps described as a very complex and delicate operation.
Northbound lanes of Flemington Road will also remain closed for some time, as the EPA continues to contain and decontaminate water from Flemington ponds.
He said yesterday's rain had not caused any further chemical leaks or spread any contaminated substances.