ALCOA: WHAT WENT WRONG?
MP’s plea to delay work falls on deaf ears with company
ABOUT 72 hours before Alcoa planned to level its disused Anglesea power station, there was a powerful call for the demolition to be put on ice.
Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson asked Alcoa on Sunday to delay the blast, believing locals had not received enough notice nor information about the potential impacts.
“I was not convinced there had been appropriate community consultation, particularly about the removal of asbestos from the power station and the risk of toxic dust,” Ms Henderson told the Geelong Advertiser.
“The whole town should have been doorknocked to ensure that every resident understood what was happening.”
Alcoa ignored the request and went through with the scheduled demolition on Wednesday.
But it certainly did not go to plan, running 36 minutes past the advertised three-hour window.
After the loud blast at 12.36pm, the bunkers collapsed. The six-storey high conveyor belt soon followed, but the main boiler building was defiant.
Alcoa has not confirmed what went wrong, but observers believe the charges on the building did not go off.
The 108m-high smoke stack, which was intended to remain, also stood tall.
Dark grey smoke billowed from the partial wreckage.
The Environment Protection Authority saw the dust cloud dissipate “within a few hundred metres” and Alcoa said the works had been carried out safely.
However, plenty of people remain unconvinced.
The powerful mining and energy union has questioned the capability of the demolition crew, and fear the bungled handling has created unnecessary health risks.
“What we are left with is a suspected toxic mess that has potentially left Anglesea residents vulnerable to asbestos exposure,” the CFMEU said.
As part of its preparations for Wednesday’s demolition, Alcoa says it carried out a comprehensive 12-month asbestos removal program.
It is understood about 40 staff were engaged to remove the dangerous material and dispose of it on site.
But the CFMEU believes the risk of exposure cannot be completely eliminated.
“It is near impossible when demolishing such a large structure to be sure all asbestos has been removed,” the union said.
“Past decommissioning of such large power stations has proved this to be the case.”
The lack of clarity has seen residents call for the State Government to intervene and establish an independent judicial inquiry into the issue.
Barrister and clean air campaigner Andrew Laird said the inquiry should have the power to reveal documents and compel witnesses to provide evidence.
“Alcoa has inexplicably
refused to make the expert reports and risk assessments into the asbestos contamination and the failed explosive demolition public, which has damaged community confidence,” Mr Laird said.
“The lack of transparency is very troubling and disrespectful of the community.”
The ill-feeling over the demolition works cannot be separated from the dispute over the future use of Alcoa’s coal mine land.
The company is keen to pursue development, including housing, which would lead to the loss of the Anglesea Bike Park.
With the lease for the park due to expire at the end of this month, supporters will rally at the site tomorrow to try to gain a reprieve.
Michael Collins, an Anglesea resident for 24 years, said the handling of the demolition was symptomatic of Alcoa’s attitude.
“There is a huge amount of disappointment about the way Alcoa is conducting itself, both on this issue and in its attempt to sell land for commercial and residential construction that our community has made it very clear it doesn’t want,” Mr Collins said.
THE
defunct coal-fired plant was closed in August 2015.
Alcoa had ended operations at its Point Henry smelter the previous year, with employees believing the plant was unprofitable at the end.
The company said it had kept locals informed of the intended demolition through their network meetings and database.
It had also told the school, which told parents the previous Friday.
But Ms Henderson said many residents had contacted her to say they had been left in the dark.
While the Surf Coast Shire was not directly involved in the works, Mayor David Bell might have provided an insight into the relatively quiet build-up.
“Really, in some ways I’d prefer we didn’t have a gallery to watch it,” Cr Bell told the ABC on Monday.
“(The school) have probably been asked not to spread it around, because the last thing we want to do is create a lot of people coming to have a look at it.
“That is the thing that scares me the most about it . . . we don’t want that to happen.
“After the Canberra incident I would be going the other way as fast as I could.”
More than 100,000 people watched the demolition of the old Royal Canberra Hospital in 1997, after the ACT Government widely advertised it as a spectator event.
But the implosion was a disaster, killing a child and injuring nine other people when large pieces of debris were sent into crowds more than 500m away.
The main hospital building was not fully destroyed, and later had to be manually brought down.
The demolition of the old power station similarly failed to bring down the steel structure.
There is no timeline given for when Alcoa and its partners will return to finish their job.
Ms Henderson hopes the second time around will be handled better.
“Before any further explosion is scheduled, Alcoa needs to do a much better job at informing the community about potential risks,” she said.