Bird deaths key to unveiling lead contamination
Loading...
Friday, September 07, 2007
If birds had not started mysteriously falling out of the sky in Western Australia's southern port of Esperance, lead contamination which spread throughout the town
A parliamentary committee inquiry into the contamination released today found a mining company, the local port authority and two government departments failed to properly exercise their responsibilities in relation to the lead pollution.
The committee's acting chairman Kim Hames said the bird deaths had acted like canaries of old whose death alerted miners to deadly gasses.
"Thank God for the birds, if the birds hadn't died in Esperance, I believe the pollution of Esperance would still be occurring to this very day," Dr Hames said.
"Secondly, thank God for the vigilance of the people of Esperance."
Esperance residents began reporting that native birds were actually falling out of the sky in December last year, while scores of others were being found dead scattered around the town.
By the end of March 2007, a total of 9,500 birds in the area had died.
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) had by then identified lead as the most likely cause of the birds' death.
Isotope testing matched the lead in the birds, and in soil and water samples, to lead being transported to the Esperance Port by rail from a mine owned by Magellan Metals.
Magellan had been granted a licence to export pelletised lead but was shipping it in a carbonate form and lead dust had been blowing over the town and people's homes.
The port was ordered to stop all lead shipments and residents were warned not to drink water from their rain tanks.
Health checks eventually revealed 13 residents had high blood lead levels, including children.
A submission from an Esperance mother to the parliamentary committee demonstrated how deeply the town was affected by the crisis.
"I have a young boy, Lachie, who is five years of age. He asked me if Mia (his 18 month old sister with elevated blood lead levels) was going to die," the mother said.
"I was really floored ... Lachie just related birds, lead, dead. He thought of Mia and lead."
The committee's report today said it was satisfied the lead pollution was caused by the transport and handling of Magellan Metals' lead concentrate to the Esperance port.
The report found Magellan and the Esperance Port Authority had not properly exercised their regulatory responsibilities and demonstrated a lack of care at the consequences for the community of the lead contamination.
The report said the DEC had been deficient in its monitoring of the Esperance Port and the Environmental Protection Agency had also failed to protect residents of the town.
The committee did not single out any individuals for criticism but said it was up to the government to punish those responsible.
Last month, the DEC charged the Port Authority with causing pollution with criminal negligence - which carries a maximum penalty of $1 million.
The inquiry has made 192 findings and 46 recommendations, including that the government decontaminate homes of children with elevated lead levels and remediation of areas in the town.
The government has accepted this and other recommendations and affected residents can now look forward to some sort of likely compensation.
Magellan Metals has acknowledged the criticism of its actions and noted the report's finding that if it containerised lead concentrate for future transport the risks would be minimised.
But as committee member and MP for the Esperance area Graham Jacobs noted today the suspicion among locals runs deep.
"They feel significantly let down," Dr Jacobs said.
"The message I get is how did this happen and what was the environmental watchdog doing?"