By Stephen Robson
PERTH — The case of Helen Carr, brought to public attention by Jim Scott, the Greens (WA) member for South Metropolitan, in the Legislative Council on August 18, seems to indicate that little protection exists for individuals who highlight environmental pollution in Western Australia, even in cases of serious breach of anti-pollution legislation.
In his speech to parliament, Scott gave a history of the case, including details of concerns expressed by the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
Scott said that the EPA and Wandalup Farms (owned by George Weston Foods) have been "in talks" for years over the amount of waste that flows from Wandalup's piggery into the Serpentine River, 60 km south of Perth.
According to the EPA, Wandalup Farms is the largest piggery in Western Australia, with approximately 22,000 pigs on the property at any one time. Scott said that the farms were identified by the EPA in 1984 as "a major source of phosphorous and nitrogen faecal bacteria" discharge into the Serpentine River. Scott points out that algal blooms, coincidentally, first appeared in the Serpentine River, downstream of the Wandalup Farm's discharge, in November of 1985.
Scott told parliament that the EPA has previously demanded that Wandalup Farms "must be made to control their discharge to the catchment of the Serpentine River".
Helen Carr, on hearing of the discussions between the EPA and George Weston Foods, had begun a public campaign to put pressure on the company to desist from its activities. She had asserted that waste from the Wandalup piggery was flowing into the Serpentine River.
The EPA was not sued by George Weston Foods, but Helen Carr was. Scott asserts that Carr lost her initial legal fight with the piggery, "despite official evidence that suggested considerable contamination could be reaching the river even though it was not in the form of manure".
At the end of July, Helen Carr, faced with court costs of up to $50,000, felt she had no choice but to spend $1000 to place an apology to George Weston Foods in the West Australian over the statements she had made regarding contamination reaching the Serpentine River.
In his speech to parliament, Scott also referred to the rumour that Dr Chris Johns, consultant to the Wandalup piggery, is the government's preferred candidate for EPA chairman. Scott likened such an appointment to "Dracula being put in charge of the blood bank".
Scott called for an Environmental Defender's Office to be set up in Western Australia to offer practical advice and representation to those involved in battles such as Helen Carr's.