Untruths from our Government - What's New?

As Rocky Enviro blogged today and as reported here...


"The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or (ACCC) have found that Water Corp misled the public in its advertising campaigns and online publishing. The Corporation published claims that the Perth Desalination Plant was carbon neutral, and its total energy requirements were sourced from the Emu Downs Wind Farm near Cervantes, North of Perth. The ACCC said the statements were misleading and has told Water Corp, not to make similar claims in the future".


As can be seen by this article - we questioned the Government over these untruths in July 2005, but were ridiculed by the Labor Government...



So now premier Carpenter and Water Corp, where is our Public Apology?


Also maybe it's time the ACCC investigated Kwinana Industry over its recent Green and Clean claims?

A message for Wesfarmers

Care about Wesfarmers? How much does Wesfarmers care about You?

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As this story reports poor old Wesfarmers is losing $20 million a month because of the Gas Crisis.

But, because many of their plants are shutdown we are able to sleep at night for a change!

Wesfarmers has 3 major plants in Kwinana that for many years have been in breach of the noise regulations

Wesfarmers LPG
Wesfarmers Air Liquid’e
Wesfarmers CSBP and AGR

Along with the noise problem are the air emissions, in particular CSBP’s Ammonium Nitrate/Ammonium Chloride plume which they claim is visible because of the cold weather, I have seen this plume for over 30 years and it is not normal for this time of year and I strongly suggest that either CSBP’s filter system is not functioning properly or they are overloading the filter system. Also I do not believe the claim by this company that breathing fine particulates from this plume is harmless.

Just how much does Wesfarmers care about the people its operations in Kwinana affect… Zilch I would say.

So how can Wesfarmers make this claim: "Wesfarmers values highly its reputation as a responsible corporate citizen"? "For further information on our commitment to the community and the environment see these Community, Environment".

So Wesfarmers and its shareholders - I care as much about Wesfarmers losing $20 million a month as Wesfarmers cares about me and others in this community impacted and concerned by Wesfarmers operations.

What ever happened to the Precautionary Principle?

Precautionary Principles are meant to exist in Australia and indeed WA, but do they exist in Kwinana?

‘When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity,
rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of
alternatives, including no action.’
- Wingspread Conference on the Precautionary
Principle, January, 1998

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And another view:

"Most people believe that if you have a toddler and an open staircase it makes sense to act in a cautionary way and place a gate across the staircase to avoid a child from falling.

The chemical industry would argue that investing in the gate may not be necessary and would argue for risk studies to determine how many toddlers would fall and how much harm would come from each tumble down the stairs.

Finally, the industry after finding that toddlers would likely fall and several toddlers are likely to be harmed, they’d argue that the investment in a gate is too much – overly cautious. They would suggest that inexpensive pillows at the bottom of the staircase would be ample protection".

Does Environmental Justice Exist in Kwinana?

It would seem not!

Today we explore the Principles of Environmental Justice and whether it's fair that some people get to live with society's waste, while others enjoy the benefits.

Environmental justice is a fairly new concept in Australia but in the United States, the right to environmental justice is now law.

It grew out of the grass roots struggles of coloured and minority groups in the 1970s who challenged the way hazardous wastes and polluting industries were unfairly sited in their communities.

The principles of Environmental Justice:
(Adopted October 27, 1991, in Washington, D.C)

1. Environmental justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.
2. Environmental justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.
3. Environmental justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.
4. Environmental justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons, and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water and food.
5. Environmental justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self determination of all peoples.
6. Environmental justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production.
7. Environmental justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.
8. Environmental justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment, without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards.
9. Environmental justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.
10.Environmental justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the U.N.
Convention on Genocide.
11.Environmental justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts and
covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination.
12.Environmental justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring
the cultural integrity of all our communities, and providing fair access for all to the full range of resources.
13.Environmental justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent, and a halt to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical procedures and vaccinations on people of color.
14.Environmental justice opposes the destructive operations of multinational corporations.
15.Environmental justice opposes military occupation, repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures, and other life forms.
16.Environmental justice calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasizes social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives.

17.Environmental justice requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer choices to consume as little of Mother Earth’s resources and to produce as little waste as possible; and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to insure the health of the natural world for present and future generations.

Who are you going to vote for?

Recieved this via email today...

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Crikey Tips and Rumours:

"The story has it that former lobbyist Roger Cook, now preselected by the ALP for Kwinana in WA ahead of the popular local mayor, has not been slow in seeking campaign donations. Perfectly legal of course. But should the people of Kwinana really be happy when a former lobbyist -- who used to take money from companies to do the company's political bidding -- then runs for parliament, while continuing to seek money from companies, though now as "campaign donations"?

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The Crikey website http://www.crikey.com.au/ (highly recomended).

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Thanks Occident Prone.

Explosions, Gas Clouds and Noise

Or just more figments of our imagination?

Over the past couple of weeks as well as the normal stuff that Kwinana Industry dishes out, we have seen/heard:

• Serious gas clouds from Tiwest;
• Black clouds of pollution from Newgen;
• Unsafe levels of noise from Wesfarmers LPG;
• Safety of BP refinery questioned by an insider.

• We are also trying to find out the source of a number of late night/early morning explosions that have been heard from Rockingham to Parmelia, due to past experience we suspect it maybe a furnace at the Fused Materials Plant.

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And they are the one's we know about.
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With all this happening, what have we been told about these incidents by industry?

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Nothing at all. No feed back whatsoever.

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However industry has continued force feeding us propaganda about how they are "keeping Green and Clean"/"becoming Green and Clean", how noise and air pollution has reduced and how much they care about Cockburn Sound and CSMC.

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More than ever before - This community is being treated like mushrooms by Kwinana Industry.