AN environmental campaigner claims toxins from at least 13 old dumpsites contributed to the recent deaths of dolphins in the Swan River.
National Toxics Network secretary and Bassendean resident Lee Bell told the Eastern Suburbs Reporter there was no control over what was dumped.
Mr Bell said two of the foreshore dumps were in Maylands, one in Bayswater and another in West Midland.
“If they were closed down before 1986 they will be a mix of industrial and domestic waste, such as fertiliser ash, but it’s mainly the demolition waste that would contribute the pesticide dieldrin,” Mr Bell said.
“And it’s not just the dumps; it’s the drains from roads and industrial areas that add (pollution).”
Last month, autopsies at Murdoch University on four of six dolphins found in the river from June to October had some of the highest recorded levels of dieldrin found in marine mammals worldwide.
Dieldrin, banned in WA for more than 20 years, collects in fatty tissues and lymph nodes and affects reproduction and immune systems.
The autopsies also found extremely high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT in the mammals.
In February, a Water Corporation report on the Swan and Canning catchment drainage system found organochlorines, such as dieldrin, at more than 80 test drains in the Swan and Canning river catchments were at levels consistently above guideline limits.
“(Organochlorines) have serious short-term and long-term effect at low concentrations,” the report said.
“How is it that the dolphins have toxins in them that are comparable to the highest levels in the world, such as pollution in the former Communist Bloc?” Mr Bell asked.
Mr Bell said the dumps had not been widely monitored. “Because of the cost, successive governments have failed to resource the Swan River Trust to monitor these sites comprehensively,” he said.
Environment Minister Donna Faragher was unavailable when asked to respond to Mr Bell’s criticisms.
However, the minister said recently that the Swan River Trust, Department of Environment and Conservation and Murdoch and Curtin universities would continue to monitor the dolphins living in the Swan Canning Riverpark.
Ms Faragher said possible causes of the deaths could be due to factors such as long-term exposure to contaminants and seasonal changes in water quality.