BHP caught polluting water at Whyalla

By Jon Lamb

ADELAIDE — Chemical sampling results released by Greenpeace on June 17 show that the waters surrounding BHP's Whyalla steelworks have levels of zinc and ammonia up to 320 times above Environment Protection Authority licence guidelines.

Greenpeace campaigner Richard Mills said, "The community needs to know what is going on. If BHP can get away with breaking their licence guidelines and openly pollute Whyalla, then the current system isn't working."

The sampling also discovered worrying levels of arsenic, cadmium and the extremely toxic hexavalent chromium. "Despite extensive investigation through the EPA's records, we found no evidence that the SA EPA has ever tested for these substances. This sort of secret pollution has to stop", said Mills.

Apart from health concerns for the local community and wildlife, toxic emissions from industrial zones like Whyalla have been linked to the declining number of seagrass beds along the Spencer Gulf and other parts of the SA coastline. The loss of these beds has greatly increased coastal erosion.

From GLW issue 236