Review over EPA process ordered after two chemical leaks from metals processor Nyrstar at Port Pirie
The Environment Minister has ordered a review into how the informs the public of contamination incidents, after two spills at Port Pirie’s smelter across the past two years.
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Revelations of groundwater contamination and a sulfuric acid spill at Nyrstar’s Port Pirie plant have led Environment Minister David Speirs to instigate a review of the Environment Protection Authority.
One of these incidents was an increase in cadmium concentration in groundwater in late 2017 and the other was a sulfuric acid spill in January this year.
The cadmium spill was listed on the EPA’s public register, but not widely publicised.
This year’s leak, which may have caused fish deaths, is still under investigation by the EPA.
Mr Speirs said the EPA had advised him that neither incident posed a risk to human health and there was no requirement for public notification, but that this year’s sulfuric acid spill had the potential to result in prosecution.
“Despite this advice, there are questions regarding how the Environment Protection Authority, as an independent statutory authority, informs local communities of environmental incidents and under what circumstances the public should be notified,” he said.
“As a result I have asked the Environment Protection Authority board to conduct a review into their policies and protocols regarding the public notification of incidents like these.
“The review will report back to me on actions that could be taken by the Environment Protection Authority or responsible parties to improve public awareness of such incidents.”
Macquarie University health and environmental scientist Professor Mark Taylor called on the EPA to be more open with the public when events like this occurred.
“The EPA said the (cadmium spill) was on the public register, but what the community is saying is ‘people don’t just go looking at the register’,” he said.
“The overriding message from my perspective is that there’s a lot of unnecessary, preventable and harmful pollution coming out of the Nyrstar facility.
“The facility needs to meet world’s best-practice and I don’t believe there‘s evidence it’s doing that.
“When events like this are not widely publicised, it leads people to ask questions about the transparency of the operation.”
Professor Taylor has undertaken studies on the Port Pirie facility, including one released this year that found about half of young children in Port Pirie have dangerous levels of lead in their blood and that people were twice as likely to be treated in hospital for respiratory issues than those in the rest of the state.
He questioned the safety of eating fish caught around Port Pirie.
“There’s a very large elephant in a very small room. Port Pirie livelihoods are so enmeshed with the facility. When your economic livelihood revolves around the smelter, you don’t really want to be asking too many questions,” he said.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell believes the incidents should have been made public at the time.
“I don’t believe the EPA is allowed to keep it under wraps,” he said.
“I believe it’s dangerous, particularly for any new arrivals who might have decided to go fishing in the area.”
Last month, The Advertiser reported a mysterious substance had been pluming out of Nyrstar’s lead smelter stack.
The company posted on Facebook that it had arranged for stack-testers to visit the site to assess the situation.
The company said while it was not sure what exactly was causing the plume, it was not lead, dust or smoke.
Nyrstar has been contacted for comments on the leaks.