Pyrolysis plant

There are some disturbing aspects of the council’s proposal to build a pyrolysis processor to dispose of unwanted chemical-laden vineyard posts within a shorter distance, not only of recently constructed housing areas, but also within a wider potentially sensitive area.

Foremost is the question of gaseous emissions, in particular those containing even minute arsenic particles.

International research shows that the jury is still out on the potential risks involved, but what is clear is that even the smallest part entering the human system can have significant health consequences.

To give council its due, engineering surveys have been carried out on wind drift effects. However, nature can be no respecter of such data should it so choose. Just one adverse unforeseen event could blow these findings away and cause untold damage.

The primary reason given by council for sitting the works at the Bluegums landfill is that already surplus treated and untreated timber is brought there for dumping, so the infrastructure is partly in place, lessening the establishment costs. Evidence would suggest that the cost and ease of construction may have blinded the council, to the effect that no investigation has been carried out into possible alternative sites.

Successive councils have created the wonderful recreational facilities around the Wither Hills Farm Park, so it is difficult to understand why such a plant should be considered near where last numbers of the public enjoy those very facilities.

While there is even the slightest uncertainty over emissions, council’s absolute top priority must be for public health. It seems that convenience of construction has outweighed concern for human health.