An Esperance Port Authority (EPA) safety worker has been sacked for "asking too many questions" and a blood specialist has been dispatched to the area as WA authorities scramble to cope with a widening heavy-metal contamination crisis.
In December 2006, more than 4000 birds suddenly died in and around Esperance on WA's Great Southern coastline. After two-and-a-half months of anxious waiting, locals had their worst fears confirmed: test results finally released by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) show that the deaths were due to lead poisoning.
Lead from Magellan Metals' Wiluna mine is exported from Esperance through an old facility called the "red shed". It is loaded onto ships via a covered conveyor belt.
While the DEC was slowly working on its analysis of the birds' deaths, the port's licence was evaluated by the department in January. It said that the port complied with all its licence policies, including its dust-monitoring program. However, the EPA was requested to repair some gaps in the lead concentrate storage shed.
On March 19, occupational health and safety officer Colin White was shocked when port authorities ordered him to resign and escorted him from their premises. He had worked there for 28 years. "I saw copies of the lead blood test results on the printer at work and started reading them and I had them snatched out my hands and was told it was none of my concern by a manager", he told the Esperance Express.
Levels in the reports ranged from 30ug per 100ml to 62ug per 100ml. Department of Industry and Resources guidelines require workers with levels exceeding 50ug per 100ml to be removed from exposure and arrangements made for a medical examination within seven days. For a female worker with reproductive capacity, the level is 20ug per 100ml.
White believes the test samples were sent to Path West in mid-November and results should have taken only three days to be delivered to the workers. "Some of the staff asked for their results on numerous occasions and when I asked about why they hadn't been informed I was told it was none of my business and to say nothing", he said.
White confirmed reports of a large amount of lead falling to the ground from the lead-loading conveyor belt. It was then hosed into the ocean. He also said he had seen dust emanating into the atmosphere while lead-loading operations were taking place.
The day after White was sacked, the WA government suddenly announced that it was sending a specialist to Esperance to perform emergency blood tests. Health minister Jim McGinty told state parliament that children under the age of five and pregnant women, the most at-risk groups, would be tested first.
The same day, shire president Ian Mickel revealed the local council had tested 55 household water tanks, most within two kilometres of the port, and found that five contained lead levels above those considered safe under Australian standards. One tank had lead levels 30 times higher than acceptable for drinking water.
Nickel has also shown up in the contamination testing. Reported contamination levels in 21 of the water tanks were 150-450% above the maximum recommended for drinking water.
Within two days of McGinty's announcement of blood testing, more than 400 people had booked tests.
Finally, on March 22, Esperance Port Authority banned any further shipments of fine lead concentrate through the port.