EPA forum ‘raises hope’ on plant emissions

Kim Waters
ENVIRONMENT Protection Authority regulations could be the key to stopping “dangerous” emissions from a cement plant in Geelong’s south, according to a residents’ spokesperson.
Grovedale’s Margarita Kumnik said residents were pleading with authorities to “do something” about Blue Circle burning alternative fuel HiCal40 at the company’s Waurn Ponds plant.
She expressed the concerns at an EPA Victoria forum in Geelong last week.
Residents were fearful of the plant spreading “airborne toxic waste”.
“We’re really concerned about it and we hope that the discussion we had at this forum will result in a change to the current rules and regulations for burning the fuel.” Geelong Sustainability Group’s Monica Winston said burning HiCal40 produced “dangerous” levels of fluoride emissions.
“We don’t know how bad breathing it in might be and it may not show up for another 10 or 20 years.”
Alcoa recently shelved plans to burn the fuel near Anglesea amid community concerns it would lead to unacceptable levels of airborne fluoride.
An EPA Victoria spokesperson said the authority would collate results from the forum for a report due later this year.
“We’ve taken note of the specific community concerns and will have our response team check them out.”
Blue Circle Southern Cement’s Peter Richardson rejected the concerns, saying the fuel had “extremely low” fluoride emissions and was cheaper than natural gas.
The plant had burnt HiCal40 for 10 years with the blessing of the EPA, he said.