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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-10 Daily Xml
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PORT PIRIE BLOOD LEAD LEVELS

The Hon. M. PARNELL (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question regarding lead levels in Port Pirie.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: In a result that is quite alarming, the most recent testing results on lead levels in children in Port Pirie, rather than showing a decline, actually show an increase. The average two-year-old child has 6.3 micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood, an increase from the 6.1 micrograms average of 12 months ago. The standard Australian guideline for target blood lead levels is 10 micrograms, but for children effects on cognitive development have been demonstrated at levels as low as two micrograms per decilitre.

In May last year, the US Centre for Disease Control, a recognised world authority, responded to mounting evidence and halved their standard elevated blood lead level for children to just five micrograms. Also, experts like Mark Taylor from Macquarie University, who was contracted by the EPA to investigate elevated lead levels in 2009-10 with a view to a possible prosecution of Nyrstar, have questioned the testing conducted by the EPA, suggesting, according to ABC radio's The World Today program this week, that the methodology used by the EPA could be easily interpreted as a manipulation of the results.

This manipulation extends to the placement of EPA monitoring stations. Under a new five-year licence agreement granted to the company last year, Nyrstar is compelled to observe airborne lead limits of 0.5 micrograms per cubic metre at two testing sites, but those are not the monitoring stations closest to the smelter, where non-enforceable targets will remain. The enforceable limit applied to Nyrstar is actually more than three times higher than the levels that SA Health concludes are needed to meet the national standard for blood lead. In the meantime, the Ellen Street monitoring station adjacent to the Port Pirie central business district would retain its target of 1.6 micrograms. This is more than 10 times SA Health's preferred goal.

The simple fact is that the blood lead levels currently experienced by children in Port Pirie are known to be unsafe and, most disturbingly, are getting worse, not better. The EPA recommended a prosecution of Nyrstar for excessive lead pollution back in 2009, which is a recommendation that has apparently been ignored by the government.

There are also grave concerns that, despite the breathless commentary about a breakthrough deal to improve the performance of Nyrstar, the capacity of the EPA to respond to any future increases in lead levels has been nobbled. In December last year, the Premier announced that the South Australian government had agreed to restrict the EPA's power over the company, giving ministerial veto rights over new licence conditions proposed by the regulator for the next decade. That includes the ability to adjust maximum lead levels. My questions are:

1. When does the government intend to introduce the special legislation that the Premier announced in December last year that will prevent key terms of Nyrstar's licence with respect to lead emissions being amended without ministerial consent?

2. Does the government intend to consult with the Port Pirie community before the legislation is introduced to parliament?

3. What additional measures will the Weatherill government take in the meantime to ensure that lead levels continue to reduce rather than increase?

4. What is the status of the recommendation of the EPA to prosecute Nyrstar in court for pollution offences involving lead emissions? Will the government act; if not, why not?

The PRESIDENT: Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, but I am not sure it is all yours, either.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:58): No, it's not, Mr President, but I will endeavour to give the best answer I can for the honourable member, and I thank him for his very important question. Airborne lead from the Nyrstar smelter site has historically been the prime contributor to the unacceptably high blood levels observed in the children of Port Pirie. The tenby10 program commenced in 2006 and aimed to reduce children's blood lead levels such that 95 per cent of children in the age range zero to four had blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per decilitre of blood—the National Health and Medical Research Council recommended limit—by the end of 2010.

On 31 December 2011, the then department of health reported that 78 per cent of children had a blood lead level below 10 micrograms per decilitre of blood. This compares with 50 per cent at the same time in 2005, immediately prior to the commencement of the tenby10 program. Despite clear improvements from the tenby10 program, further work is required from Nyrstar to reduce lead emissions and subsequently blood lead levels.

On 25 July 2012, following an extensive review of Nyrstar's EPA licence, the EPA placed new conditions on its licence. This includes an environmental improvement program that will require Nyrstar to implement improvements to its facilities to reduce lead emissions. It also establishes more stringent lead emission limits in Port Pirie. A copy of this licence is available, I am told, on the EPA website if the honourable member cares to check that excellent work.

In December 2012 this government announced an agreement between state and federal governments and Nyrstar to invest in a transformation of the Port Pirie smelter. The transformation will significantly reduce the emissions from the smelter with the objective that no child exceeds National Health and Medical Research Council recommendations for blood lead.

The requirement to reduce discharges is not new. The EPA, in conjunction with SA Health, has for many years required continued improvement quantified through regular monitoring and reporting. Because blood lead levels in some children still exceed National Health and Medical Research Council recommendations, we do require these further improvements.

In relation to the questions the honourable member asks that are outside my portfolio, I will undertake to seek a response from the relevant ministers in the other place and bring it back to him.

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