By Laura Tomlinson, Fremantle-Cockburn Gazette
COCKBURN Cement Limited could be triggering pre-existing respiratory conditions, has undertaken “deficient” emissions modelling and is discharging similar amounts of dust from both kiln 5 and 6, according to a damning Health Department report.
Analysis of dust deposition gauges in the Munster Area (September to December 2010) – which was leaked to the Cockburn Gazette – is a summary of the findings of four dust monitoring devices installed on residents’ properties by the City of Cockburn.
During October, one home was plagued by nearly 13 times more dust than the New South Wales EPA guidelines.
Samples were collected twice from Location A (1.6km north-north-west of the kilns), while Location B (1.1km north-north-east) experienced 10 dust fall-out events.
Locations C (2.1km north-east) and D (1.6km south-east)did not report fall-out events.
Despite irregular sampling times – from one to 14 days – the findings were significant.
“Regardless of reduced precision, all of the calculated dust deposition rates over shorter durations were considerably higher than that recommended by the NSW EPA (2005) guideline value of 4 g/m2/month,” the report says.
“If each individual mass collected at Location B was pooled into a single month-long sample, the modified result for October is 51g/m2/month and for November it is 19g/m2/month; both significantly higher than acceptable rates.”
The report says that calcium levels and elevated pH in Location B’s samples were calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide, both of which were produced by CCL.
“Therefore, it is likely that CCL is a major contributor of the dust in the DDG at Location B, and less so, at Location A,” the report says.
It concludes that the dust’s elevated pH could “trigger and possibly exacerbate symptoms in people with pre-existing respiratory conditions”.
Kiln 6 was shut down for maintenance from December 6 until after the final three samples were collected. Kiln 5 emitted a similar substance at a similar rate even when Kiln 6 was shut down.
“This suggests that effective controls that prevent dust fall-out events originating from Kiln 6 should also be implemented for Kiln 5, to ameliorate the impacts to amenity and wellbeing of residents living close to the CCL facility,” the report said.
Cockburn MLA Fran Logan berated CCL for keeping “its corporate head in the dust” and called on the Environment Minister to make CCL’s operating licence require a bag house filter on Kiln 5.
Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett agreed CCL should install a bag house filter. CCL and the Environment Minister were contacted for comment, but were unable to meet the deadline.