Economy
Poppy factory effluent fear
Macquarie River water quality must be investigated
The Minister for Environment must assure landholders around the Macquarie Settlement that their river is not being polluted by effluent from a new poppy processing factory.
I have recently received a series of complaints from landholders that the new plant may be operating outside its mandated environmental parameters.
One property owner has had the water tested below a discharge pipe and was alarmed to find it contained evidence of heavy metals.
The cause of any contamination must be investigated by the State Government, whether it is from the new plant or from another source.
The Minister must ask the Environment Protection Authority to assure local residents that the new plant is abiding by the conditions of its planning and building permits.
This is not an old industrial site struggling to meet current standards, this is a two year old supposedly state of the art operation which was hailed by its Managing Director as a ‘cleaner, more cost effective production process’ at the plant’s opening in February 2008.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr O’Byrne must ensure that all users of the Macquarie River below the Plant get answers very soon.