Fishing, Aquaculture and Cuttlefish sacrificed as Council votes for big oil.

Wednesdays Whyalla Council meeting degenerated into farce as Councillors sided against the Whyalla Community in support of more oil refineries on the Point Lowly Peninsula. The State Government recently approved a new Diesel storage facility at a time when the existing Santos facility is leaking.

The motion brought by Councillor Jo-Anne Waters that the Whyalla Council should call for a moratorium on proposals for industrial developments involving petrochemical products on the Point Lowly Peninsula pending a full, Environmental Impact Study was resounding defeated as the Whyalla Council sent a clear signal to industry that the Point Lowly Peninsula is open for industrialization.

A presentation given by Dr. Andrew Melville Smith on behalf of the Save Point Lowly group for the motion, highlighted the risk of leaks and spills were real and probable, and the vital fish nursery and Cuttlefish breeding ground were too valuable a resource to lose.

The Mayor Jim Pollock attacked Councillor Waters suggesting that her motion was not thought through and that residents had put her up to it, oblivious to the fact that all the Councillors were there to represent the residents of Whyalla.

Councillor Merton Hodge declared that there was no such place as the Point Lowly Peninsula and therefore they could reject the motion. He appeared oblivious to the fact that the council referred to it throughout their literature, newsletters and even had a Point Lowly Peninsula Task Force. Aside from not being correct, the name was not the issue, it was the future of Point Lowly and its inappropriate as a site for heavy industry.

Councillor Natasha Free bravely wanted to know who was going to do the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and who was going to pay for it. Council appeared to have forgotten that BHP had to prepare and pay for an EIS on their proposed desalination plant on the Point Lowly Peninsula. One should ask why the council was so eager to let Stuart Petroleum off the hook.

Councillor Carter in a burst of enthusiasm said that the relevant authorities had looked at the proposed diesel refinery when they approved it and he was confident “that the regulatory authorities would not allow anything untoward to happen” (to the Point Lowly Peninsula).

At his Australia Day speech, Mayor Jim Pollock declared to the residents of Whyalla “We should all bear a thought for the mistakes of the past and work tirelessly to ensure they are not repeated”. Clearly Mayor Pollock’s comments did not apply to the Council, who in their rush to support big oil ignored the previous oil spills and the council’s duty to protect the residents the existing fishing and aquaculture industry as well as the environment.

The presentation by Warren Kruger on behalf of Santos appeared to satisfy the Council but left many residents shocked and angry. There was a murmur of disbelief when Warren Kruger declared “No impact has been identified as a result of Santos operations” shortly after the Council had been reminded of the “Era” oil spill in 1992 that damaged the coast to South of Port Pirie.

Warren Kruger proudly introduced Louise Swann as a recent arrival at Santos, who suggested that Santos should check the ground water at the refinery on the Point Lowly Peninsula. It was a result of this that Santos discovered that their hydrocarbons (oil) had found their way into the ground water on the Point Lowly Peninsula. The question that was not answered was how long the plant leaking prior to the investigation being started by Louise Swann.

Santos then embarked on a program of drilling 100 wells to investigate the ground water and rock strata under the plant on the Point Lowly Peninsula. “Now” he declared “We have a good understanding of the rock strata” leaving residents gasping at the fact that Santos had no idea of what lay under their plant for the 28 years that they had been operating the plant.

When asked by Councillor Waters why Santos had not made their leak public earlier, Warren Kruger said that whilst they believed the contamination was under their plant “they could manage it within the confines of the plant” but once there was concern about the contaminated groundwater leaving the plant site, it was made public.

Warren Kruger went on to say they had found three small holes in one of the tanks and that the bottom of this tank was being patched up. This lead the Council to believe that the leak had definitely been found but Warren did not say that this was definitively the source of the leak and this corroborated by the continuing search for leaks. The ploy worked and the Whyalla Council was just too quick to seize this as an excuse to throw out the second motion, clearing the way for big oil to move in. Council have had a motion similar to this ‘on-the-table’ for the past 18 months.

Forgotten in this rush dump the motion was the second part of the motion that called for the efficacy of the interception trench to be proven before the council supported any further petrochemical industry on the Point Lowly Peninsula.

The Whyalla Council meeting on Wednesday was a prime example of how a democratic process can be subverted by elected members to support big business in direct contravention to the interests of the residents who elected them and trusted them to look out for their interests. On Wednesday, Whyalla cemented its image as an industrial city when it handed the jewel in Whyalla’s crown (The Point Lowly Peninsula) over to big business in the name of profit.

Lights back on

The Whyalla Council has turn the Point Lowly Lighthouse light back on with a dimmer yellow light