Nightmare forced family's move to safer pastures

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have accused the state's pollution regulator of being a "toothless tiger" over Orica's history of pollutant breaches.

Toby jones

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have accused the state's pollution regulator of being a "toothless tiger" over Orica's history of pollutant breaches.

 An analysis of Orica's non-compliance with the Office of Environment's Protection Licences shows the mining explosives plant that leaked carcinogenic hexavalent chromium on August 8 and arsenic on August 19, had breached its environment protection licence on average 14 times a year since 2005.

The chemical manufacturer exceeded limits of arsenic in effluent in 2010, 2008, 2007 and chromium in 2005-2006.

Limits for the discharge of ammonia and nitrogen oxide were also exceeded. The plant also regularly failed to collect stormwater samples after rain as per its licence.

"We have a legitimate question about what the regulator was doing about this," said Pepe Clarke from the Nature Conservation Council.

"The Environmental Protection Authority has accepted that this is just business as usual, that breaches are somehow acceptable."

According to EPA legal documents, Orica has only been prosecuted once in the past six years. In November 2005, the company was fined $10,500 for a breach of their pollution licence condition.

Over the past few years several families in Stockton have moved away over of health concerns.

Scott and Alex Jones had lived near Kooragang Island when their son Toby was nine months old, but he developed severe asthma and was hospitalised several times a year.

After two years, the family sought greener pastures.

The family moved 30 minutes north to Tanilba Bay in June and Toby, now two-and-a-half, has not had a single attack since.

"He also used to suffer eczema and that has cleared up too, we just thought Stockton was bad for your health," Mr Jones said.