BY DANIEL JARDINE
SYDNEY — Ten thousand tonnes of toxic hexachlorobenzene are stored at the Orica plant in Botany, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The HCB is the by-product of more than 30 years of the production of chlorinated solvents by both Orica, and before it, ICI.
HCB is classified as a persistent organic pollutant (POP). Environment Australia, a government department, defines POPs as "hazardous and environmentally persistent substances which can be transported between countries by the Earth's oceans and atmosphere. The substances bioaccumulate and have been traced in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals."
Under a 1996 federal government waste management plan, Orica has to destroy the HCB by 2006. A Community Participation and Review Committee (CPRC) was established to review the management plan and review the environmental impact statement (EIS).
Despite the money likely to be involved in the building and operating a plant to destroy the HCB, and to produce a 1000-page EIS, the only resources made available to the CPRC is a room provided by Botany council.
Local residents participating in the CPRC were able to get Orica and the state government to extend the EIS review period by 60 days, have Orica send information to local residents and arrange community consultation meetings.
Botany Environment Watch, which is participating in the CPRC, has pointed to failings in the EIS.
The EIS recommends a process called GeoMelt to destroy the HCB. The process, as outlined in the EIS, involves mixing the HCB and soil in a large crucible and then using electrical current to melt the mixture. Temperatures of up to 1600oC destroy the organic material, including the HCB. The resulting solid waste, after cooling, is a glass-like material.
The data in the EIS, provided by the manufacturers of GeoMelt, claim the process removes up to 99.9999% of pollutants. Orica claims on its web site (<http://www.botany-hcb.com>) that, at trials conducted at a pilot plant in South Australia, "air emissions generally met Waste Management Plan standards, and results showed that they can be met in the full scale installation". This is an interesting definition of the expression "generally" since the EIS states that of the three trials, two failed to meet the air emission standards.
However, a more accurate method that takes into account all pollutant emissions from the process, produces a result of 99.997%. This is also the figure on the GeoMelt web site (<http://www.geomelt.com/>). This difference corresponds to almost 300kg of material released over the four-year life of the plant. There is no indication in the EIS of the fate of this material, except for a claim that it is not in the solid waste from the GeoMelt process.
The community representatives on the CPRC, while not supporting the proposed plant at Botany, proposed in a submission to the review of the EIS a number of conditions that needed to be met. These were not included in the EIS recommendations and include: an independent environmental audit of the Orica site and the surrounding area; that Orica create a trust fund so that the destruction of the HCB can be performed even if Orica goes out of business; that the CPRC be fully resourced so that it can monitor the process; and, that the approval process be placed on hold until these conditions are met and a public inquiry held.
On January 7, the community group had its first success with the announcement of a public inquiry into the proposed waste facility. However, statements by government spokespeople in the local press indicate that the state Labor government does not intend to have the inquiry look at any alternative waste disposal options.
Submissions have to be made to the inquiry by February 11, and the first public hearing will be on February 25.
From Green Left Weekly, January 16, 2002.
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