THE ALTONA CHEMICAL COMPLEX NEIGHBOURHOOD CONSULTATIVE GROUP By the late Nessie Hardy serviced by the industries of the adjoining suburbs A Brief History... and with easy access to ports and major roads, the location seemed ideal to industry but less than ideal to neighbouring residents. Land zoned for The largest concentration of the chemical residential use extended to within three hundred manufacturing industry in the southern hemisphere metres of a large petrochemical plant. is situated in Altona, a pleasant bayside suburb of The Altona Chemical Complex brought with it Melbourne, Victoria. progress, profit, people, problems and pollution. Altona was a quiet residential area surrounded by The residents were assured that the noise, smoke extensive paddocks which were used as agistment and smell associated with the start-up of the for horses until 1961 when these paddocks various plants would lessen as they settled into the became development sites for the chemical normal routine. The nuisance did decrease but not industry. Fed the necessary feedstock by the nearly enough to satisfy residents and there were recently expanded Mobil Altona Refinery and many incidents involving injury to workers and releases of toxic emissions. Residents were constantly annoyed and fearful. One company alone, B.F. Goodrich (Australian Vinyls) had two potentially catastrophic accidents resulting in the release of six hundred and seventy six tonnes of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in one incident and eleven tonnes of the same material in another. Vinyl chloride monomer is a flammable, volatile carcinogen. Luckily both these releases were dissipated by favourable winds. Relying on the vagaries of wind strength and Many odours are transitory. direction to save us from disaster was not Calls to the industry were stonewalled. There was comfortable. Local residents were also fearful of the no communication between management and effect the constant emissions were having on residents. Even after the Environment Protection general health. There were many individual Authority was set up in 1971, it was not considered protests but the people felt isolated and ignored. as anything more than a bureaucracy set up to Much anger was expressed to friends and family licence industrial emissions. It was remote and and concern felt about the health effects of these difficult to contact after office hours. exposures but most felt powerless to take their complaints further. In spite of all these restrictions, a small group of concerned residents got together and called a Some of the factors that influenced this feeling of public meeting which was attended by 150 angry powerlessness were: people. It was at this meeting that the Altona • There was an understanding of the economic Environmental Action Group was formed. This benefit of the industries; group played an important role in focussing the fear • There was a reluctance to offend those who and anger of the community and providing a forum worked in or received commercial benefit from for concerns to be discussed with a view to the chemical industry. resolving the problems. At the time, many felt the only resolution would be the closing of the industry. Most residents of Altona are not accustomed to having input into the decisions which most impact The Action Group questioned the right of the on their lives because the area has been virtually chemical industry to impact on the health, safety disenfranchised from all three levels of and amenity of the local residents. Every government. It is a safe Labor party seat in both development proposal by the industry was state and federal parliaments and the unique opposed. method of local government elections in place until There were street marches, placards, public recently has meant little chance of changing meetings, petitions and letters to the editor in both anything politically. daily and local papers. Indeed it was not unusual Although the officers of the Council health for local media to have front-page headlines such department did their best to cooperate, they were as, “TIME BOMB TICKING AWAY IN THE WEST' 2 frustrated by lack of proof that would stand scrutiny. and 'THE FUSE IS BURNING'. devalued and the area stigmatised. The Complex Things come to a head companies were not totally happy with the amendments and other industrial landowners also opposed them. The situation deteriorated in 1986, when an application to establish a Social Club on The situation was inflamed by Company undeveloped land close to the Complex was announcements of expansion plans made in refused because the Chemical Complex, ignorance or disregard of local residents concerns. Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the A stalemate had been reached. Ministry of Employment and Training appealed against the City of Altona's intention to grant a permit on the grounds that the: A Way Forward - the - proposed development would be contrary to proper concern for public safety; proposed ACNCG development would encroach on a potentially hazardous installation; and The Minister for Planning then invited the Labor - subject land was adversely affected by Member for Werribee, Dr. Ken Coghill to investigate residual air emissions and industrial noise from ways in which the various parties could be brought nearby industries. together and an equitable solution found. A further important aggravating factor was the In late 1988 Dr. Coghill held a number of public Government's quantitative risk assessment study meetings to which he invited residents, conducted by Technica which found inappropriate representatives of the Chemical Complex, the City levels of risk to residents living close to the of Altona, the EPA and the Department of Planning Complex. and Environment. This finding was of great concern to local residents As a result of these negotiations the Altona many of whom lived closer to the Complex than the Complex Neighbourhood Consultative Group proposed Social Club would have been. Planning (ACNCG) was set up to facilitate discussions amendments were drawn up which restricted use between industry, regulators and residents. of all land near the Complex. This action angered the local residents who believed their homes were The Consultative Group is resourced by the local 3 council and is chaired by a City Councillor. in discussions with Council, EPA and Industry. Meetings are held monthly and rotate between the The first meetings were very difficult with the various industry sites and council offices. Minutes Complex representatives expecting to be shouted are taken and distributed by a council employee. at and the residents expecting to be patronised. Other council officers are also present with the Visiting a company's premises took courage and Health, Planning or Environment departments was seen by some onlookers as “selling out”. This usually represented. The Victorian Workcover suspicion made it extremely difficult to make any Authority (VWA) is represented at meetings. The progress and often members felt that it was a EPA which has provided invaluable assistance has waste of time and energy but gradually the barriers been represented by at least two officers at every have been lowered. meeting. The Chemical Complex which consisted of seven sites at that time had an obligation to be The 'them and us' attitude decreased as the represented by their senior site managers. industry representatives learned that it was possible to explain technical problems to untrained In fact, this commitment continues to be observed people (untrained, that is, in chemical or today and it is rare for any company not to be mechanical engineering) and the residents have represented by top management. The learned to focus on the problems at hand. Environmental Advisor and the Community Liaison Advisor employed by the Complex are always in Over the years there have been instances of attendance. There are presently eight residents or paternalism and shouting but there has been community members. The Environment, Health laughter too. Most importantly, from an and Safety Managers of all companies usually environmental point of view, there has been a attend and other employees are welcome. substantial reduction in emissions and other adverse effects from industry and a more The matters of concern raised at these meetings responsible attitude now generally prevails. were considered when the next amendment was presented in April 1990. The principle change in this was that the residential zone would retain its Residential C status. This took the sting out of residents' objections to a degree but having been alerted to the danger acknowledged by the 4 authorities a small group continued to be involved reports have been found to be extremely useful in ACNCG Meeting focussing attention on performance and trends in Arrangements health, safety and environmental matters. These presentations are followed by EPA, Workcover, City West Water and Council's reports With various mergers and plant closures, the detailing any complaints received during the Altona Chemical Complex now consists of BASF previous month. These reports include details of Australia Ltd., Dow Chemical (Australia) Ltd., and planning permit applications, Works Approvals and Qenos Pty Ltd. Qenos has four sites, namely: licence alterations requested for the Complex or Olefins, Plastics, Elastomers and Resins which the surrounding area. makes up seven plants in all. Each site hosts the This procedure was negotiated when the State ACNCG annually. The Annual General meeting is government granted the Complex companies as- hosted by the Hobsons Bay City Council. of-right planning privileges which meant that the A light meal is served and the meeting proper industry was not required to notify their neighbours beings at 6.30 p.m. with a presentation by the host of all developments on their sites. The compromise company. This encompasses the company's reached then was that industries would notify the environmental and safety performance of the ACNCG as early in the planning procedure as previous year. possible of any on-site changes contemplated.