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- 11 June 2002
Port Kembla Copper Smelter
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About this Item
Speakers - Cohen Mr Ian
Business - Adjournment
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Page: 2965
The Hon. IAN COHEN [10.17 p.m.]: Tonight I want to speak about a serious incident that took place on the evening of Saturday 8 June at the Port Kembla copper smelter. Three major explosions ripped through the plant and 100 tonnes of metal overflow from the anode furnace came into contact with water. The explosion shook the ground within a one-kilometre radius of the plant. It shook the homes of residents and rattled the windows, and expelled thick smoke over the town. The operations manager of the Port Kembla smelter said the explosion was due to a furnace malfunction. A steam explosion sparked a fire that damaged two buildings and destroyed the cabling and electrical wiring in the anode casting area.
There were 25 to 30 people on the site at the time. Staff were evacuated immediately. Smoke covered the homes of several residents, but no information was forthcoming from the company about the danger or about what had happened until three hours after the incident. Walls had been moved and cracks centimetres wide appeared in the Anglican Rectory in Military Road. When emergency services and ambulances arrived, members of the public were unable to get any information. Port Kembla Copper has an emergency protocol that includes notifying residents whenever an incident occurs. The operations manager told the media:
Once the company established there was no likelihood of any further explosions we ran through the community notification protocol and contacted those who we needed to about 8 or 9pm.
Surely these protocols are in place to protect the community at times when the smelter is unstable, not once everything is under control again. Who regulates the protocols to see that they are followed correctly? The current processes are failing the community. Tonight is the eve of the release of an independent review and audit by the CSIRO.
The report was in response to the Illawarra Residents Against Toxic Environments [IRATE], who asked the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning [DUAP] in November 2000 how it would enforce its consent conditions. It is unclear whether this report is the annual environmental audit—required by the consent conditions consolidated instrument M4—which should cover the period April 2000 to April 2001 and be submitted to DUAP within 60 days. If so, the audit for the following year should be due shortly. The review to be released tomorrow only deals with the period to 12 June 2001. Since that date numerous incidents have occurred at Port Kembla copper smelter.
On 30 July 2001 there was a fire in a slag furnace, on 28 September 2001 children were affected by sulphur dioxide gas at school, on 15 February 2002 children were affected by sulphur dioxide gas at school, on 7 March 2002 acidic fallout caused widespread damage to property, on 3 May 2002 residents were affected by sulphur dioxide gas and on 8 June 2002 explosions and fires occurred at the smelter. There needs to be tighter management of these facilities in residential areas. This company is not handling risks to the community and the environment responsibly. The Environment Protection Authority has to date prosecuted the company and fines of up to $150,000 have been imposed for air and water breaches; it has issued on-the-spot fines totalling $12,000 for other breaches; and it has required the installation of additional environmental measures costing more than $6 million.
These improvements have come about because of an active and informed resident action group, known locally as IRATE. They have been doing a fantastic job for years trying to highlight environmental pollution from the original copper smelter. Port Kembla is a safe Labor seat and the Carr Government does not see the smelter as a danger. Honourable members will recall that the old copper smelter was sent off to pollute a suburb of Istanbul. In the past these people have had to survive many problems, including cancer clusters. Now there has been a catastrophe. Local residents have been living with the fear of such an event for years—ever since this copper smelter was developed for the second time.
The explosions on Saturday night were close to a serious catastrophe that could have been life threatening for the people of Port Kembla. IRATE has been campaigning for years. It deserves respect and an acknowledgement by the Government and agencies that this is a very serious issue. I remember the Treasurer saying in this Parliament that it was a wonderful new process, not like the dirty old smelters. There has been a continual breaking of regulations and polluting. I ask the Government to note the explosions on Saturday night.
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