Fertilizer Plant tragedy is Wake-up Call for WA
Friday 19 April 2013
Greens WA Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region, Robin Chapple MLC, today expressed his profound sorrow and sympathy for the victims, after hearing news of yesterday’s tragic ammonium nitrate fertilizer plant disaster in West, Texas.
“While respecting the grief of those involved, I would be derelict in my duty were I not to urgently call on the State government to bring an immediate halt to all ammonium nitrate facilities in WA while investigations into the causes of this explosion are undertaken,” Mr Chapple said.
“There are just too many documented cases of explosions during processing of this inherently unstable material, for us to now just sit back and do nothing, when it could happen in my constituents’ backyards - near the Burrup Peninsula, and now with this new plant about to reach full steam ahead in Port Hedland – barely a stone’s throw from residential areas.
“There are also hundreds of workers in and around these ticking time-bombs every day.
“While guarding against the awful effects of an explosion on human life must be paramount, the potential destruction of the world’s oldest petroglyph galleries, in the middle of a future World Heritage zone, should be enough to cast serious doubt on the wisdom of locating this type of plant on the Burrup.
“This is sheer madness – let’s not wait for it to become a local tragedy.
“There can be no more excuses – Mr Barnett, act now!” urged Mr Chapple.
