Assessment of Ex-HMAS Adelaide must be provided to the local community - 22 March 2010

Greens MP Ian Cohen is urging the Federal Minister for Environment to publicly release all the independent reports on and assessment of the Ex-HMAS Adelaide before the ship is towed to Avoca Beach to be scuttled 1.7 km from Avoca beach.

Minister Garrett has today issued a permit to the NSW Government to scuttle the Ex-HMAS Adelaide off Avoca Beach under the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (Sea Dumping Act). However, significant community concern about the assessment process persists, and I, like the local community, want to see the documentation supporting Minister Garrett’s claim that the scuttling will not pose an environmental or public safety risk,” says Mr Cohen.

“The local community are rightly concerned. NSW Government ministers have got their facts wrong at every corner, from which beach the ship is to be sunk off to the removal of PCBs from the ship. For example Minister for Land Tony Kelly indicated on 24 February 2010 to the NSW Parliament that ‘all PCBs, lead and other toxic materials have been removed'. Considering that the ship was not tested until 6 March 2010, the Minister’s representations appear inconsistent.”

“Minister Garrett and the NSW Government need to show the public that all toxic materials are removed from the ship. The National Toxics Network (NTN) Australia have written a letter to Minister Garrett advising the Minister of the need to test the ship for recently banned persistent organic pollutants (POP) such as Pentabromodiphenyl ether (C-PentaBDE) and Octabromodiphenyl ether (OctaBDE).”

“PentaBDE in ships is specifically referenced in the Risk Profile document prepared by the United Nations POPs Review Committee. Minister Garrett has an obligation to ensure these chemicals are not left on board where they will leach into the marine environment.”

“The community has every right to be concerned about the dumping of waste on their local beach. Information obtained by local community groups on the ship cleaning process raise real concerns about whether the process has been as robust and rigorous as the NSW Government have made out. I hope that Minister Kelly and Federal Minister Garrett have enough respect for the local community to release the ship assessment documentation.”