THE export of nickel through the Esperance Port will cease if it poses a threat to public health, Premier Colin Barnett told some 200 concerned local people on Sunday.
The Premier flew from Perth to discuss the State Government’s decisions on bulk nickel loading at a public forum, held at the Esperance Civic Centre.
“I appreciate the issue of lead and nickel have been of great concern for the people in this town,” he said.
“The public health of the people of this town will remain the priority of this government.
“If I receive advice public health is at risk, the operation will be closed down.”
Mr Barnett said it was also important that industry in Esperance was maintained, as Western Australia was built on a farming and mining economy.
“We’ll do what it takes to make sure the port can continue to operate but public health comes first,” he said.
Mr Barnett told the forum that nickel was a common mineral found in the environment around us.
Toxicology expert and executive director of the Nickel Producers Environmental Research Association, Dr Hudson Bates, addressed the meeting and also said nickel could not be avoided.
“Nickel is everywhere on the planet – it’s all around us,” he said.
“In fact, the planet could not survive without nickel.”
Found in everyday necessities and items such as food, jewellery, coins, surgical implants and water, Dr Bates said most people are exposed to nickel on a daily basis.
“One in one million people will die from cancer as a result of nickel,” he said.
“Cancer rates in Esperance are comparable to other parts of WA where there is no nickel loading.”
Department of Health senior toxicologist Mirella Goetzmann said inhalation of the metal was toxic, however WA’s nickel guideline of 3ng/m3 was in line with the State’s risk policy.
“We feel this number will protect the community,” she said.
“Although conservative, these guidelines can be met with the port upgrade and the cleaning of the port.”
During her presentation, she relayed a message from toxicology expert at the Edinburgh Centre for Technology Professor John Duffus.
“The Esperance community is not at risk of respiratory cancer from the nickel in the community,” he said.
In December last year, the State Government announced they would spend over $100 million to ‘clean up’ the port.
Esperance Port Authority CEO Captain Dennis Parsons said this would ensure it became a world class facility.
“Current structures [at the port] are aged and corroded,” he told the forum.
“The sealing in of the structures to protect workers and the community are corroded.
“The [new facility] will be constructed of non-corrosive material with the proper ventilation and will meet Department of Environment and Conservation targets.”
While screening photographs of the corroded buildings, Captain Parsons said nickel would always have dust and odour issues.
“Concentrates will always be dusty and always have an odour,” he said.
“We at the port have to work to control the dust and odour as best we can.”
At question time, lead remained a key issue amongst the public’s queries.
Mr Barnett – who said the lead issue was the “second most serious public health issue this State has seen” – told the forum nickel and lead were very different things.
“I do not in any way dismiss [the lead] issue,” he said.
“I am embarrassed the lead issue happened in a state like Western Australia.
“[But] we cannot confuse the dangers of lead with nickel.”
Locals for Esperance Development spokesperson Pam Norris said the forum was mostly positive for the group.
“We thank the Premier for his commitment both to the cleanup of lead and residual nickel in this town and for his personal commitment to the protection of our health,” she said.
“Captain Parsons’ presentation regarding the ongoing work and the commitment of the EsPA to ensuring compliance and protection of this community was excellent and gives us good reassurance.
“The only concerns we have are that none of these assurances are backed up by good enforceable conditions in the EsPA licence.
“In the wake of the lead contamination where this community was so comprehensively let down, we feel these commitments need to be enshrined in the port’s operating licence.”
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