Public Health issues and reports
14 June Update: May 2005 report
by our scientists Dr Peter Dingle, Lee Bell and Kelly Duckworth,
lodged
on behalf of the local community with the State Government - the State
Government has agreed to consider this report as part of its
reassessment of the ANI decision in accordance with the Supreme Court
action initiated by South Beach residents.
"The Department of Environment (DoE) and Health rejected
Stockland's first 2 attempts at its remediation plan for the ANI
site due to the threat posed to public health. The
Department of Health (DoH) noted on 15 June 2004 that "concerns
remain that the developer is proposing to disturb significant volumes
of fill that is dispersed with zones containing high levels of heavy
metals on a site that is prone to gusty wind conditions and is in close
proximity to residential areas." The DoH said that "it is
disconcerting that issues already identified by the regulatory agencies
as requiring attention have not been addressed...this does not instil
confidence that issues requiring attention during the remediation
process will be addressed at that time." Click on link for full
text of
DoE and DoH rejection letters of 15 June 2004.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT ENV HAVE BEEN IN TROUBLE WITH THE
REGULATORS. We have recently found out that ENV, who are
Stockland's consultants, have been in trouble before with the
regulatory agencies. ENV were the consultants for the 2004
Midland Saleyards remediation. In documents released under
Freedom of Information we have found that in
2004, the DoE questioned the accuracy of ENV's airmonitoring results
and
methods used. Documents state that "the December 2003 monitoring
results
show exceedences of the target levels for dust on 16 occasions...with a
number of days showing that no monitoring was performed."
A DoE document dated 3 March 2004 said that the developer and ENV were
advised of the seriousness of the air monitoring issues and in
particular the DoE found that
" 1. data was provided one month after commencement, which was too
long, when exeedences were apparently detected
2. the background date was inadequate
3. apparent non-adherence to the Australian Standards and
4. tardiness in providing supporting information on methodologies and
calibration."
ENV were also in similar trouble at the Helena West remediation over
air quality monitoring.
We ask - "HOW ARE WE EXPECTED TO TRUST THAT ENV WILL REMEDIATE
THE ANI SITE SAFELY, GIVEN ITS POOR RECENT TRACK RECORD AND GIVEN THAT
THE GOVERNMENT ARE NOT GOING TO BE CHECKING THEIR WORK AT SOUTH BEACH
?? "
June 2004 letters from DoE and
DoH to DPI listing serious shortcomings in Stockland's
first two EMP's. This is a nine page tif file that will
open with Kodak Imaging, an old program found in
Windows-Accessories in Win98 versions, not sure about later Windows.
A toxic legacy by the seaside "Fremantle
Herald" 18 December 2004, Thinking allowed
column by Kelly Duckworth
Detailed Report by scientist Kelly Duckworth on Stockland's remediation plans
for the ANI site. Ms Duckworth's recommendations to protect
public health have been ignored by the regulators.
Kelly Duckworth's two page summary
setting out effects of various toxic metals on health.
United Nations Reports on Lead and Human
Health
From Corby in the UK.
Families blame toxic dumps for deformities
By Robert Verkaik, Legal Affairs Correspondent, The
Independent, London.
26 April 2004
The families of two dozen children born fingerless or with webbed hands
are celebrating a legal victory in their quest to prove that the
deformities are linked to toxic waste dumps left over from
Northamptonshire's once thriving steel industry.
Full Story
Western Australian contaminated
sites and clean-up costs from
http://www.audit.wa.gov.au/reports/report2002_06/report2002_06pf.html
Read this and ask if Stockland's quote of $2.5Million sounds
realistic.
Scientist Kelly Duckworth has provided us with a hand-drawn
sketch showing the location of the lead found across the ANI site. borehole location map coded for different levels
of Lead content to depths of up to 5 metres.
Look at this and see the Lead is all over the ANI site and extending
off the site to the south and SE too.
Toxic Disputes and the Rise of Environmental Justice in Australia,
download 83kb pdf paper.a peer reviewed paper published in the
International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Volume
9 / No 1, Jan/Mar 2003, by Mariann E. Lloyd-Smith and Lee Bell.
Discusses the history
of the Bellevue toxic sites and fire, read how the Govt reacts to
emergencies.
If you have trouble downloading from Oztoxics.org try this link to our server.