Port Augusta residents take fight to Adelaide for Premier Jay Weatherill to further remediate Northern Power Station
THE Rundle Mall pigs and Victoria Square statues had a makeover this morning to demand action to a longstanding issue in Port Augusta, did you see it?
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PORT Augusta residents sick of dust blanketing their town have made a very public 4m-high statement demanding Premier Jay Weatherill take action and clean-up the problem.
Pedestrians were this morning brought to a standstill in front of statues in Victoria Square, which were affixed with dust masks and the message ‘Hey Jay, stand up for clean air’.
Greenpeace activists, on behalf of Port Augusta residents, scaled the square’s four statues, Rundle Mall pigs and Roy Rene sculpture, on Hindley St, to highlight the longstanding dust problem in the town.
Port Augusta has been subjected to thick plumes of dust blanketing the town from the defunct Northern Power Station, which closed in May 2016, causing breathing problems for residents.
The latest protest comes one week after the Dustbusters community group held a rally in Port Augusta and met with Mr Weatherill’s staff to demand further remediation of the coal-fired power station.
Port Augusta business owner Alan McMahon said the group had not received a response from Mr Weatherill’s office and they were fed-up with the inaction.
“Port Augusta suffered poor air quality throughout the operational life of the plant and people’s health remains at risk more than a year’s after the power station’s closure,” Mr McMahon said.
“What we want to see now is leadership in remedial action and for Premier Jay Weatherill not to leave Port Augusta residents with a dust problem for the next 20 years.”
The Labor Party was the only major party this election to not commit to further remediation of the power plant, owned by Flinders Power - an offshoot of Alinta Energy.
Flinders Power has capped the plant’s 273ha ash dam with a layer of soil and seeded it with plants, but it has failed to solve the dust issues.
Greenpeace Australia campaigner Martin Zavan said the Liberal Party and SA Best had both committed to helping the people of Port Augusta.
“Jay Weatherill portrays himself as a leader in the transition to renewable energy,” Mr Zavan said.
“Those transitions need to be planned so communities are not left dealing with health and environmental problems that are foreseeable and avoidable.”
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