THE sentencing of the Esperance Port Authority for their role in the lead contamination of Esperance has been a hot topic in Esperance.
Many members of the Esperance community have felt that the sentence was too light, while others are looking towards the ongoing lead clean-up and finally closing the book on the lead contamination once and for all.
Esperance Shire president, Ian Mickel, summed up the situation very succinctly.
“It’s one government department paying another government department. It almost seems like a nonsense fine,” Mr Mickel said.
“I would rather they spent the money on upgrading the Port infrastructure so that something like this could never happen again.
“I think the majority of people want to move on from it. Now we need to finish the clean-up process and get new infrastructure in place to make sure there isn’t anything escaping from the Port.”
Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region, Wendy Duncan, and Member for Eyre, Dr Graham Jacobs, both came into government following the lead contamination, and said they were glad to see things coming to a close.
“It’s good to have it over and done with so the Port can look to the future and so can the town,” Ms Duncan said.
“The Port weren’t fined the maximum, and hopefully some of the money that is not used to pay the fine can be used to redress some of the outcomes of the sentencing.
“There is a lesson to be learnt for us all – you cannot let your guard down. There were a whole heap of mistakes made along the way, not just by the Port, but by government agencies.
“I think a lot of people will be glad to see this sorry chapter of Esperance’s past coming to a close.”
Dr Jacobs criticised the previous state government’s involvement in the whole affair.
“It was well recognised in the Parliamentary enquiry in 2008 that the Department of Environment and Conservation weren’t exemplary in their behaviour either.
“You could say they were asleep at the wheel.
“My feeling is that the sentencing was a little light on, however I recognise that previously the Port has always been very good corporate citizens, they have worked very hard to get rid of the lead, and they have apologised to the community,” Dr Jacobs said.
Both Ms Duncan and Dr Jacobs acknowledged the lead clean-up has been a long delayed process, but were pleased to see things progressing.
“The previous minister, Alannah MacTiernan, was tardy in committing money to the clean-up,” Dr Jacobs said.
“There are a lot of things that haven’t been exemplary over this whole situation, but now it’s time to move on,” he said.
Ms Duncan said she was keen to see the progress of the clean-up over time.
For some, the lead sentencing has been an emotional time.
Mandy Waters, a mother whose child was found to have elevated blood lead levels, said the sentencing was a joke.
“It was just a slap on the wrist. It’s a joke,” she said.
“There seems to be so much apathy in the community about the lead incident.”
Ms Waters said she would like to see the money the Port was fined go towards compensation or providing learning equipment for children affected by lead contamination.
“I would like to see some entity, whether it is the Port, Magellan Metals or the State Government, providing compensation, because it is wrong.
“If we need help in the future, we have nothing.
“The fine doesn’t fit the crime.”
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter