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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-08 Daily Xml
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WHYALLA HEALTH IMPACT STUDY

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about the Whyalla Health Impact Study.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: Following a Freedom of Information Act request, I discovered that the former chair and chief executive of the Environment Protection Authority, Dr Paul Vogel, wrote to the minister some time before 16 November 2007 expressing concerns about the delay in the publication of the Whyalla Health Impact Study Report and urging the minister to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Health.

Dr Vogel's letter also claimed that the material contained in the report was known by government agencies 'for about two years'. One document elaborates further by stating that the EPA board was aware for two years of concerning research findings in Whyalla, including 'early indications that there were elevated lung cancer rates and hospital separations for several conditions'.

In October and November 2005, which was two years before Dr Vogel's letter to the minister, the Broken Hill Proprietary Company's Steelworks Indenture Environmental Authorisation Amendment Bill was debated and passed in state parliament. The effect of this bill was to revoke the EPA's dust emissions standards: ironically, very similar standards to that reannounced by the Minister for Mines this morning, and they were reinstated in 2007, effective January 2008, when the Whyalla Health Impact Study was released as well. The other effect of the bill was to block the legal challenge initiated by the Whyalla Red Dust Action Group, which also sought similar standards.

My questions are: did the minister know that there were early indications of elevated lung cancer rates and hospital separations for several conditions in Whyalla when she voted in support of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company's Steelworks Indenture Environmental Authorisation Amendment Bill; and, if not, when was she first made aware of these early indications of elevated lung cancer rates?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:17): The Whyalla Health Impact Study Report was released to the public on 5 December by the Hon. John Hill, Minister for Health. The study did find that there are higher rates than expected for specific diseases, including lung cancer cases, compared to other country towns. However, a link to red dust emitted from the steelworks has not been identified through the study.

In 2005, an indenture act was passed by parliament introducing a new process administered by PIRSA for varying OneSteel licence conditions for the Whyalla steelworks. In conjunction with the indenture act, the EPA licence controls various aspects of the steelworks, and it is currently being modified by PIRSA to reflect changes that are needed, as Project Magnet comes to fruition.

I have been advised that the EPA has noted many environmental improvements that the steelworks have made over a long period of time, and it will continue to work with PIRSA and OneSteel to ensure that those improvements continue. In relation to the specific dates that I received information on in relation to aspects of the higher than expected rates of various diseases, including lung cancer, I would have to refer to my records for that and I am happy to bring back a response to the chamber.

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