Pastoralists rally to block Flinders Ranges radioactive waste dump proposal
Uncertainty over a nuclear waste dump is tearing friends and families apart, say graziers in the Flinders Ranges.
SA Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Aboriginal vote rejects Kimba radioactive waste proposal
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
Flinders Ranges pastoralists are rallying against plans for a radioactive waste storage site, which they say would threaten their businesses and decimate tourism.
It comes as Jon Gill – whose station Mern Merna borders the proposed site – says uncertainty about whether the proposal will go ahead is tearing friendships and families apart.
He is among the owners of 14 stations within a 50km radius of the proposed facility, who have written to Resources Minister Matt Canavan imploring him to abandon the idea.
The Hawker community is nearing the end of a ballot to determine how many locals back building a nuclear storage site at nearby Wallerberdina Station, with votes due tomorrow (Thursday, December 12).
The station owners uniting to oppose the project represent a combined 6115 square kilometres – more than double the size of the ACT.
Mr Gill runs sheep on his property, after destocking its cattle during the drought, and also accommodates tourists, which he says has helped improve the business’s bottom line.
“It’s going to affect tourism big time,” Mr Gill said.
“Everyone we talk to says, ‘I don’t know whether I’ll come back if there’s one of them put up here’.
“(But) we rely on tourism during times like this – it brings us in good money to buy hay to keep the station running.”
The Federal Government is considering building the storage facility at one of two sites near Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula, or at Wallerberdina, east of Hawker.
About 45 people would be employed, and the surrounding community would receive a $31 million package from the Government.
Mr Gill was concerned about the potential for environmental problems caused by flooding and seismic activity, such as groundwater contamination.
“It could be devastating for the state.”
Mr Gill said it would take “decades” to heal the community division caused by the proposal.
“Some are 100 per cent for it and some are 100 per cent against it and they’re at loggerheads at the moment,” he said. “It’s breaking friendships and families up.”
Wallerberdina has been volunteered as a potential host site by owners Philip Speakman and retired Liberal senator Grant Chapman.
MORE NEWS
Federal Government denies claims it has a preferred site for radioactive waste storage
Kimba residents vote to support nuclear waste dump near town
Sam Chard, general manager of the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility Taskforce said a seismic hazard assessment for the Wallerberdina site showed risks could be mitigated through structural engineering.
Modelling found that during a one-in-100-year event, floodwater from Hookina Creek would only reach the edges of Wallerberdina Station.
“The impacts of these very rare flood events can be mitigated by one or more measures including filling to raise the land, or the construction of bunds, levees and other diversion structures,” Ms Chard said.
She said the facility would generate $8.3-$8.4 million in annual benefits to the local economy
A ballot in Kimba found 62 per cent of voters backed the proposal.
A separate vote of traditional landowners rejected it.
The Federal Government has said a decision will be made on the project early next year.