Are the lives and health of the Collie community at risk? The truth about Perdaman’s proposed Urea plant Outcomes of Perdaman Chemicals and Fertiliser’s Preliminary Risk Assessment Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers (PCF) company seeks development approval to establish a urea plant within the Shotts Industrial Park, approximately 7 km from Collie. The urea production process requires the manufacture and storage of anhydrous ammonia, a highly toxic gas. PCF propose to store 10,000 tonnes of this chemical in a single storage tank, cooled to -33oC to liquefy the ammonia. This single tank will contain the same volume of liquid as about 5 Olympic swimming pools. A preliminary risk assessment. (PRA) was prepared by the environmental consultant firm GHD for PCF as part of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) approval process. The goal of the PRA was to determine whether Shotts Industrial Park was a suitable location to establish the urea plant given the potential risks a large or continuous emission of anhydrous ammonia would have on local residents and workplaces. An air pollution dispersion model was used to predict the public risk for three scenarios; minor, medium and catastrophic failures of the ammonia storage facility and the resulting number of deaths due to inhalation. For all scenarios, Perdaman concludes that the probability of an incident is low, human fatality would be likely to occur only within 1-2km of the proposed site, that only 120 people would be within this zone and that this is considered by Perdaman to be an acceptable risk. The Collie Rural Action Group has repeatedly raised its concerns regarding PCF’s PRA. The committee has highlighted its concerns that the PRA grossly under-estimates the size of the population at risk for each of the three hazard scenarios as well as the likelihood of hazard occurrence. Furthermore, the EPA approval process only requires Perdaman to address fatalities and fails to meet State and National guidelines that emphasize the importance of evaluating both direct and/or indirect effects of a hazard on all aspects of human health i.e. not just the risk of death. Critical evaluation of PCF’s PRA A qualified and experienced environmental scientist was commissioned by the Rural Action Group of Collie (RAG) to critically evaluate PCF’s PRA. The resulting report known as Preliminary Risk Assessment Critical Evaluation (PRACE) has been endorsed by eminent professors, doctors and scientists from across WA who collectively have expertise matching that of the EPA. The findings of the report confirm RAG’s concerns. PRACE indicates that Shotts Industrial Park is an unsuitable location for the proposed PCF Collie urea plant based on public risk.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:10:52 +0000
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