How to stop more Oricas
Sunday, 21 August 2011 10:20
In the wake of the Orica pollution incidents, special legislation will be needed to reform pollution control licences so that industry is required to expeditiously inform government and the community about pollution incidents, Total Environment Centre said today.
"Our initial investigations show that the 'as soon as practical' test is in virtually every licence (and there are thousands) and an umbrella act will be needed to reform all of them quickly. The legislation should include:
1. Specific classes of pollution or environmental harm that have degrees of urgency attached to them.
2. Specific facility plans that fit the classes of incidents and hazardous chemicals into monitoring and response actions.
3. Tough penalties for breaching notification and plan requirements,"
said Jeff Angel, Executive Director of the Centre.
"Recent statements by the Premier acknowledging the problems with the legislation, pointed out by TEC last week are welcome, but we should move very quickly on this. It's quite possible that other industrial facilities are behaving in the same sloppy way that Orica did with the Chromium VI release; or worse not reporting potential environmental harm at all. The Office of Environment and Heritage should also conduct a random audit of other chemical plants to find the true situation."
