Whyalla Council cop out fails residents
On Monday the 23rd of November the Whyalla Council had the opportunity to actively support a motion introduced by Councillor Bruce Ledo to oppose a desalination plant on the Point Lowly peninsula. See news report
Five years of research and development by BHP Billiton’s huge Olympic Dam working party, culminated in a 4,000 page EIS. There was a 14-week public consultation and nearly 4,000 submissions expressing concerns to Government about the desal plant, including a response from the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Despite the passage of six months in order to get across the issues, some councillors or Council management have neither the capability nor commitment to be able to digest the basic concepts.
Save Point Lowly Chairperson and local veterinarian, Dr. Andrew-Melville Smith is concerned that despite so much information being available and presented to Council over a period of more than a year some Councillors were still undecided or not prepared to express an opinion.
Save Point Lowly project officer Mr. Tom Cheesman agreed, “It really begs the question whether the Whyalla residents can have confidence in this Council. Especially if they remain unable of grasping the concepts of Dr Gillanders and Dr. Kaempf presentations that ‘high salinity is an issue , KILLS Cuttlefish and is an unacceptable risk’.”
To the packed gallery, overflowing with concerned Whyalla residents, the 75 % of the Whyalla Council let the residents down in spectacular style. Dr. Melville-Smith said, “Through their indecision, the Whyalla Council has broadcast the message loud and clear to Corporate Australia “We can’t make up our own minds, please come and tell us what to do”.
Mr. Steven Arndt of the Whyalla Economic Development Board (WEDB) presented the usual line of ‘development at any cost’. His presentation stated that Whyalla was an industrial city and Olympic Dam expansion was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and we must not miss out by opposing the desalination plant on Point Lowly peninsula. What Mr Arndt failed to do was present a case why desalination could only ever be placed at Point Lowly. With 4,000kms of coastline in this State, that is clearly not the case.
Mr. Cheesman said, “It seems the proposed changes to Regional Development Boards might provide an opportunity for them to step into the new millennium and adopt the world recognised secure approach of ‘Triple-Bottom-Line’ reporting. Some accountants may look at the bottom line in terms of cost and revenue, but ignore the risk calculations of the social and environmental impacts that lead to economic disaster, is nothing short of vandalism of Whyalla’s future.”
Mr. Cheesman said, “It appears that Council and WEDB are out of their depth when it comes to securing a future for all Whyalla people.” He said, “They appear to be only interested in the welfare of the rich developers and local businesses. The fact is the job base needs to be diverse and sustainable. Equal consideration should be given to industrial, engineering type jobs as well as our fishing, tourist and our recreation jobs.”
Mr Cheesman felt it is contradictory for the Whyalla Council to promote Whyalla tourism with the Cuttlefish and Point Lowly on the one hand, but then fail to have a position or raise any concerns re the potential risk imposed on this by a desal plant.
However, Dr. Melville-Smith said that Councillor Ledo was right, the Point Lowly peninsula was a very poor choice for a desalination plant and added that Elliston would be a much better alternative due to abundance of on site wind power and deep ocean discharge for the hyper-saline wastewater.
“BHP is not going to pull the plug on Olympic Dam or Whyalla if we oppose the Point Lowly peninsula desalination plant” he said “If the cheapest option is not available, they will look at other alternatives, such as Elliston”.
Mr. Arndt suggested that we should wait for informed decisions of the State and Federal Governments but Dr. Melville-Smith replied “We live here, this is our home and we should not defer these decisions to politicians who have close ties to Corporate Australia and live so far away, the probably don’t know where the Point Lowly peninsula is!”
The Mayor, Jim Pollock, opting to stay neutral on the issue, stated that he had visited the desalination plant at Cockburn Sound in Western Australia and that it was so unobtrusive that it looked more like a resort then a desalination plant and was so quiet you wouldn’t know it was there.
Mr. Cheesman said he hadn’t been there but from the photos he has seen, he had never seen a resort look like this desalination plant. “Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t this the desalination plant that is wrecking the marine environment of Cockburn Sound.” He said “and isn’t the Water Corporation seeking to have trigger levels for dissolved oxygen lifted because they have had to shut down the plant on a number of occasions because they have exceeded the environmental levels? The fact we are being asked to make the same mistakes just beggars belief.”
Lights back on
The Whyalla Council has turn the Point Lowly Lighthouse light back on with a dimmer yellow light