Authorities are tonight telling residents in more than 70 homes in Newcastle, that they’ve been exposed to a potentially dangerous chemical.
Plumes of hexavalent chromium were emitted from the Orica ammonia plant at Kooragang Island on Monday.
The plant has since been shut down.
text will be replaced
this is totally untrue about how orica said they shut down the plant on monday at 6pm after this hexavalent chromium leak incident ,i am working at orica and all of us workers arrived at work on tuesday morning at 6am and were not told about this incident till 8am and were at risk as soon as we walked through the gate and i tell you now the plant was definitely still up and running and we were approved and had permits signed by orica to say it was fine for us to work in this matter , i find this management by orica a joke as they could not tell us what had happened at all ,as i feel they were trying to cover this whole incident up
Is this why I was itchy and needed a shower after walking from my residence, in Cooks Hill, a few blocks to the Hunter Street Mall on Tuesday around 2.00pm. Had to have a shower when I arrived home.
Absolutely alarming the lack of information that has been given to the residents of Newcastle about this (of main concern is the lack of info given to the residents of Stockton) The most informative article I could find was in a Western Australian on-line magazine (they live far enough away, yes?)….why is this being hushed up so much?
Stockton residents were not being informed properly until last night what was happening and had not been told at all that they should not let their children play outside or that they should not be drinking their tank water…one has to wonder if it was accurate information they were given. There was a half hour leak of hexavalent chromium (Erin Brokovich ring a bell?)
Come on NBN……there are concerned people who are too scared to say anything and who are not being given information….isn’t one of the jobs of the media about reporting facts…not hiding them…..please start reporting on this
@Bill , i highly doubt that this was the cause of your itch. the wind was traveling in the opposite direction, Cooks Hill is very far away from this. And the chemical was released nearly 24 hours prior to your run.
I live just north of Stockton in Fullerton Cove. We have no town water, only tank water to bath in and drink. What do we do? I tried to contact Orica’s Enviromental officer, Cain Miller and all i got was voice mail.
What a cover up!!! Residents should have been informed immediately. Robyn Parker’s Government department were informed of the incident at 10.30a.m on Tuesday 9th August, 2011 – yet she only let the N.S.W Parliament know of the incident on the afternoon of Thursday 11th August, 2011. That meant that she knew that a non-determined level of contamination had occurred yet she only chose the parliamentary forum two days later to formally table the incident. Surely her duty on a human level should have been paramount in informing ‘people’ rather than covering her ‘duty’ and informing parliament. Robyn Parker is a mother of 3 children – put the boot on the other foot and how would she have reacted if she lived in Stockton and had not been informed…. ‘Not Happy’ I’m sure Robyn !! In her press conference aired on the NBN News she stated that:…”Her department had not been informed until ‘some time later’ yet she was previously quoted as saying that date was Tuesday 9th August, 2011 (as previously stated). Mrs Parker, you have given a politician’s answer – lacking both detail and accuracy..in fact virtually a lie in the fact that you have chosen to omit the specific timelines that you were clearly aware of at the time of the press conference. We are being told by news services that Stockton residents are being personally informed of procedures to take….sadly not one person that I know has had anyone speak to them….shame! shame ! …how stupid do the authorities and politicians think we are?…and the gas only went to Flint St… tell us another one!!!
According to Orica, a door nock to inform affected residents was done on Wednesday. I’d like to know whose door they knocked on -certainly not mine, or in fact any of the residents I have spoken to. So did they leave a calling card or any information, you may ask? No. When were we informed? To-day. Friday. By letter drop from N.S.W. Health.It says:
“Some simple steps can be taken to reduce possible exposure to any chromium (V1)” Here’s an idea – INFORM US IMMEDIATELY
And guess what’s in the area most affected – a pre-school. Any of your children at the pre-school Robyn Parker? I guess not. That’s why you don’t care.
Some of the simple steps noted by NSW Health- “Prevent your children from playing in the garden unless the lawn is washed by strong rain or tap water.”
Well, we all knew that, didn’t we – ON FRIDAY!
And we have had, in the past “yellowish brown droplets on cars, outdoor objects or surfaces….” My guess is, Orica, that this time you couldn’t cover it up.
i worked at the log yard opposite orica and parked my car there overnight .on leaving in the morning i had to wash white crystal deposits off my windscreen so i could see out of it.i dread to think what is floating around in their employees lungs.
A rally has been organised for today Saturday 13 August outside sailing club in Stockton to try to get some answers from Orica to our questions and to look at better management for the future.
Yuck! Newcastle is never going to grow into a unique, vibrant, city, as long as it’s dumping chemicals upon itself. It has the best positions for a city in Australia. Time for a big clean up. People don’t just need questions answered and quasi reassurance. There shouldn’t have been a chemical leak in the first place.
After someone looks into the issues of those affected, then it’s time to move this crap out of town . . . and reclaim some dignity. BHP has gone . . . get rid of this too and create a remembrance memorial.
I am very concerned about the Orica spill as I have two small grandchildren that live in the area. If there is so “little risk” to their health and the health of others in their community, WHY was the spill such a long kept secret?
I think there is probably more to it than meets the eye, and if so, then the company in question should speak up now rather than later and take responsability. I think that having the public relations people working overtime on damage control is to little to late.
Will my granddaughters and their families be fighting another James Hardy case in 30 years?
Arrest all the people involved in this crime on the Stockton community. Shame orica shame. God help you if this brings Ill health to anyone. Myself included! You cannot be trusted with our lives any more.