Timeline Of A Lead Contamination Incident
How long does it take to determine if lead killed thousands of animals in an area known for lead industry related activities? Nearly two months, or so it would seem judging by a recent incident in Australia. I’ve been following the story on the lead contamination scare in Esperance since the what was touted by some as a “tin-foil hat” theory of lead being involved was floated early this year.
When thousands of birds started inexplicably dropping dead in the Esperance late last year, I guess there could have been a wide variety of causes to test for, but the fact there were lead mining and transport operations close by makes me wonder why the connection wasn’t made a lot sooner. It takes well under a week for a lead level testing to return results.
The town is relatively small – 14,000 residents. Would the response have been faster if a similar occurrence had occurred in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane?
Here’s a timeline of events in the Esperance lead contamination.
A mystery toxin is believed to be responsible for killing an estimated 5,000 birds in Western Australia’s Esperance region. Bird lovers in Esperance became concerned a couple of weeks ago when they noticed an eerie silence in their gardens.
Tissue samples have failed to uncover what caused the death of thousands of birds in the Esperance region in southern Western Australia
Local politician calls for the town’s port to halt its lead handling operations until the source of the lead, announced last week to possibly be responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds, is found
The Esperance Port Authority has urged the community in south-eastern Western Australia to keep an open mind about thousands of bird deaths in the region, despite its decision to suspend all lead shipments. chief executive Colin Stewart “Now, we monitor their blood lead levels and the like and we have experienced nothing to cause concern at this point in time, but it’s important that we look after our employees and the community and wildlife”
The Western Australian Health Department says it will not conduct widespread blood tests on Esperance residents until there is evidence possible lead contamination in the area is affecting humans
Esperance residents in south-eastern Western Australia will have to wait until next week for the results of voluntary blood tests for lead contamination.
An expert on lead says the type of lead being shipped through the Esperance Port, in south-east Western Australia, poses a heightened risk to human health.
Blood tests on more than 400 Esperance residents have revealed six adults and one child have lead levels above the recommended level.
Western Australia’s Health Department will contact 12 Esperance residents after their blood showed up higher than recommended levels of lead.
Esperance Port has temporarily banned moving lead because thousands of birds have died from lead poisoning and a dozen local people have lead blood levels above the safe limit.
The Western Australian Health Department has reversed a ban on eating fish caught near the Esperance port, in the state’s south.
A parliamentary inquiry into lead contamination at Esperance will begin its first hearings today.
Two West Australian government departments have told a parliamentary inquiry they could have handled an investigation into lead poisoning at Esperance much better.
The Esperance Port Authority says a rainwater tank cleaning program is not an admission of liability for lead and nickel contamination in the town
The company at the centre of the lead contamination scare in Esperance has rejected claims it has misled a government department about whether the material was dangerous.
Western Australia’s Health Department has found trace levels of lead and nickel in the soil along some parts of the train line between Esperance and the mine responsible for the lead which has contaminated the town.
The company mining the lead blamed for contamination in the Western Australian south coast town of Esperance maintains its proposal to export the metal through Fremantle presents no threat to the community
The Esperance Port Authority has been charged over the lead contamination which killed thousands of birds and elevated lead levels in the blood of some residents.
It’s taken oven 7 months for anyone to be charged over the issue that saw thousands of birds killed, landscape and waterways contaminated and residents wind up with high levels of lead in their blood.
Thankfully, lead shipments through the port are still banned while the town continues to clean up and lead levels in residents appear to be dropping. It all begs the question though of why it took so long for the connection to be made in the first place given the large numbers of dead birds observed since December 2006.
The moral of the story: never believe that a government department has things under control, has the best interests of people at heart or knows what it’s doing. I firmly believe that if not for the extensive media coverage of the bird die off phenomenon, it would have been business as usual for quite some time in Esperance, even with many more of the birds in the area vanishing.
These birds were true “canaries in the coal mine” – this incident also highlights the fact we certainly need to take more note of what the planet’s smaller creatures tell us about our environment.
Tags: australia, contamination, environment, lead, poisoning
Aug 12, 2008
Having lived in Esperance for four years from 2004 – 2007, I have followed the lead contamination issue with interest. I was teaching at a school in the town of Esperance when thousands of birds dropped from the sky. At the same time, I noticed that many children in the school became sick with a vomiting ‘bug’.
While talking yesterday to a friend who still teaches in Esperance, she mentioned that she and many of the students in the school were again suffering from a bug that included vomiting for a period of one or two days. She also mentioned that more birds have been found dead in the area over the past few weeks.
I hope that this is just a nasty coincidence!
What s actually being done about the lead clean up? Is there any action being taken?
Oct 14, 2009
Hi,
I am conducting some research into the Esperance lead contamination issue and have found your timeline very helpful.
I was wondering if you could provide me with any sources you might have for where this information came from? eg references to news articles, government reports etc?
Many thanks,
Paul