Just who is protecting the community and workers?

One of the many Smorgan Steel Kwinana Fires

Just who is protecting the community and workers? It certainly isn't our Government Authorities/Regulators.

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As reported in this weeks Sound Telegraph a worker was hospitalised after an industrial accident in at Onesteel (formerly Smorgan Steel) in Kwinana last Thursday.
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According to the Telegraph "FESA issued a statement ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY and said there were 2 explosions about 10:50 am". So why is FESA is now speaking on behalf of Industry?
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"The worker was believed to be in Royal Perth Hospital with burns to 40% of his body".
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This operation has a long poor history. This is an excerpt from a media release I wrote in June 2007 after yet another fire at the plant (There are many more examples):

"The DEC Kwinana had clear warning signs about Smorgon Steel over the past few months with complaints of explosions and pollution fallout. The DEC as usual basically ignored these complaints and warning signs with one DEC officer saying there wasn't a problem with Smorgan Steel.

Smorgan Steel can also be remembered for the Bassendean scrap yard fire in December 2004, where premier Geoff Gallop promised an inquiry into scrap yards. Smorgan can also be remembered for the Kewdale scrap yard fire of March 2005.

We attended a community meeting with Smorgan Steel on 16th March 2005, where we expressed concern about the possibility of a Bassendean type fire at the Kwinana site.

Smorgan Steel, the DEC and the Town of Kwinana have made many assurances to this community about this plant, but today we realise how worthless those assurances were.

We call on the authorities to withdraw Smorgan Steel's licenses to operate until they can prove beyond all doubt that their operation is safe".

FESA stood up in a community-industry meeting and went to bat for the company and claimed what a wonderfull job they were doing and how safe it was... Just 24 hours later the place was burning again.

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And now serious questions need to be asked of our regulators/authorities - While I do not now the full details of this accident, I believe it likely that it was preventable...
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We have warned the regulators about, what we believed were, very dodgy goings on at this site for years, we have warned of the explosions, we have warned of the fires, we have warned of the risk to the community and we have warned of the risk to workers because of questionable practices, but of course our regulators once again seemed more interested in protecting industry at any cost!

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Do departments like DOCEP (now DMP), DEC, FESA and Worksafe actually talk to each other? or is it as it seems that they are all the same - cover up to protect industry at any cost?
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We now demand a full inquiry and number one should be why didn't the regulators/authorities listen and act on complaints and concerns? Before someone was seriously hurt.

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How do authorities actually sleep at night? - In my view they should be charged with criminal negligence.

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Incompetent/Corrupt or both?

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Thoughts and wishes go to the injured worker and his family.

Technical Clitch with Poll

The poll - Is the DEC incompetent, corrupt or both has been removed due to site technical problems. It stopped counting and in the end would not display.

It was obvious that most people who voted thought the DEC was both incompetent and corrupt.

Maybe we will rerun the poll when the site fixes the glitch?

Kwinana Intermodal

Cockburn Cement

We didn't want it, that doesn't mean someone else should cop it...

The government is planning a huge Intermodal freight terminal 3 times the size of Kewdale. The preferred option has recently been released and is open for public comment.

As I blogged here, then Government Minister Fran Logan wanted to dump the Intermodal out of his electorate and in between my house and some of the states major hazardous industry.

The new Governments preferred option is just south of Cockburn Cement, right next to many residents and new residential areas. The impacts on these communities will be massive, the truck movement along Russell Road will increase to 7778 a day right through a residential suburb. Will Governments ever learn?

The thing here is; the Government resumed (instigated by a previous Liberal Govt) residents land for facilities like this (now known as Latitude 32), but it seems Landcorp is more interested in selling the land more suitable for this proposal to industry and making money.

We also know that Minister Simon O'Brien wants Fremantle Ports as a whole moved to Kwinana.

If this Intermodal has to happen, which it seems it does, then it should be located further south, near Rowley Road where the impacts will not be so great.

The closing period for submissions has been extended to Friday 27th February.

We have the right to know

Flare - BP Kwinana

For many years, (well over 15), communities around the Kwinana Industrial area have been calling for an early warning system in Kwinana, to alert residents should something go wrong in any of Kwinana's major hazardous industry that could possibly pose a threat to nearby residents.

We recently ignited that call again and here is the story: As reported - 'Call for red alert strategy' in the Kwinana Courier 2 weeks ago:

"INDUSTRY and government regulators are being called to task after it was revealed this week there is currently no emergency communication system in place to notify the community of risk from a major emergency on the Kwinana Industrial strip. Kwinana Progress Association president Steve Hesse said the community had demanded such an alert in the past and it had been a concern for many years because of the hazards and incidents that had occurred. We have a right to know if something goes wrong, he said. Mr Hesse wanted to know why the regulatory authorities had not done anything about an alert system".

As reported - 'Ministers blocked WA warning system on Perthnow and in the Australian yesterday:- it seems we are not there yet and it lies at the federal governments feet. We still wait impatiently.

DEC culls Kwinana Air Pollution Study

After sitting on a so-called 'steering committee' for the DEC 's Kwinana air toxics study, allegedly providing advise to the DEC on where to locate monitors and what pollutants of concern are to be monitored, we are now told;

Due to DEC funding cuts the measuring of pollutants in the Kwinana airshed will not go ahead as discussed, planned and agreed.

The DEC's air toxic study (renamed air quality study to appease Kwinana industry) was to monitor pollutants of concern in Kwinana residential areas, but the DEC now claim that due to cuts in funding they HAVE DECIDED not to monitor for many hazardous pollutants such as VOC's, eg. Benzine and Ammonia.

The State Government are potentially playing with people's lives by not monitoring for these highly toxic and in many cases carcinogenic compounds. Kwinana has the largest mix of polluting industry in the state.

This is a disgrace - We have a right to know what is in the air we breathe.

Update: Please feel free to vote on my poll on the right of this page.

DEC found to have failed again and again and again...

As the Sunday Times reported 'Alcoa let of DEC hook', The state ombudsman found the Department of Environment and Conservation - DEC had failed to properly respond to pollution and health problems in communities near the Wagerup refinery.

This is not the first time the DEC which is meant to be WA's environmental policeman has been found to have failed, some that come to mind are Omex, Bellevue, Brookdale, Kwinana, Cockburn Cement, Kalgoorlie, Esperance etc.

What we need to know is when are our politicians going to do something about it? It would seem that this must be the way they want the DEC to be, because that is how industry want it to be and after all industry call the shots.

When DEC officers (the environmental police) publicly claim that "we have and will maintain a good relationship with Kwinana Industry" its pretty obvious that something is horribly wrong.

Incompetence/Corruption or both? Vote on the poll to the right of this page.

DEC causes Child Health Study to be postponed

The Kwinana Children's respiratory health study has been postponed due to DEC not having air monitors available.

The study will not now commence in March as planned because the DEC cannot organise air monitoring in time.

This is despite the DEC sitting on the steering committee for the study and knowing full well that air monitoring would be an integral part of the study.

Also the monitoring will consist of only one single monitor in one single location in Kwinana and this is meant to be representative of all Kwinana schools.

This is alarming, especially when you see stories like this from the US.

Unbelievable... One really has to wonder if this is just another Government/Industry organised cover up?