Health
At Cockburn Cement, we are aware of health concerns arising from our neighbouring residents in relation to emissions from the Munster site. However, our monitoring, testing and modelling program has consistently shown that there should be no adverse health effects arising from these operations.
Although the Munster Plant has no identifiable adverse health
impact on the local community, an amenity effect is unavoidable due
to the Plant's size, complexity and longevity in the area. This is
particularly true in the residential area that lies within the
Kwinana Air Quality Buffer (KAQB) and includes Brittania Ave,
Fanstone Ave and East Churchill Ave.
The results of an independent monitoring and analysis
program of the stacks at Munster in 2009, published in 2010,
shows that all emissions are well below Western Australian and
national guidelines, with many thousands of times less than the
relevant air quality standards. The 2009 study repeated a 2003
study so that the results could be directly compared. The 2009
results were similar to those from the 2003 study, from which the Western
Australian Department of Health concluded that there would be no
detrimental impact on public health from the emissions at
Munster.
The extensive testing program involved in these reports covered 66
compounds selected from the National Pollution Inventory list in
agreement with the Department of Environment and Conservation
(DEC). Ground Level Concentration (GLC) modelling of the compounds
was then undertaken by independent air quality consultants, Katestone Environmental. This
was done using the DEC recognised AUSPLUME model to establish
ground level concentrations in the local area. This clearly
established that emissions from steady state operations are within
health guidelines. To read the 2010 media release, click
here.
In 2006, as part of an ongoing review, DEC published the Environmental Assessment Report 2006, which found there to be no expected health impacts from stack emissions. More recently, in late 2010, the Department of Health has advised some local residents that, based on samples taken from monitoring stations on their properties, the levels of metals in the community are very low and do not pose a health risk.
Since 1955, thousands of people have been employed at Munster, many for several decades. There is no evidence of our employees' health being impacted during this time by the Plant's operations.
