The Age (Sunday Age)
Roos victims of factory fluoride
By
Deborah Gough
SCORES of
starving and pain-ridden kangaroos have been culled after developing tooth and
bone deformities from breathing and ingesting fluoride emissions.
Many more are
believed to be suffering from growths that will kill them.
The affected
kangaroos are living near the Alcoa aluminium smelter in
Autopsies
performed at
It can also
cause tooth and jaw deformities that hinder eating and foraging.
The Sunday Age has
been told more than 200 ill kangaroos living near both affected sites have been
culled in recent years, but this figure could not be confirmed.
The Environment
Protection Authority was first warned of the effect of fluoride dust and fumes
on kangaroos living near the Alcoa smelter in 2005, although lameness was
detected in some animals grazing there as early as 2001.
Jenny Charles,
associate professor in veterinary pathology at Melbourne University, said
research had found that up to 90 per cent of the roughly 130 kangaroos living
at the Portland site had some form of fluorosis on their teeth and a quarter
had visible limb lumps.
Dr Charles said
autopsies on Craigieburn kangaroos showed lower levels of fluoride in their
systems, but the effects of fluorosis seemed to be worse. Other foraging
animals may also be affected.
Wildlife
EPA director of
environmental services Bruce Dawson denied the authority had been slow to
reduce maximum emission levels.
He said that
while the levels were safe for humans, it was now clear they were too high for some
animals and a new level was likely.
However it could
take years before research indicated what that level should be.
''We are taking
this seriously. Clearly the impact on the local kangaroos and vegetation is not
acceptable and action is required,'' Mr Dawson said.
He said research
by
Neither Alcoa
nor Austral Bricks has been in breach of their licences to emit fluoride, but
Mr Dawson said the EPA had demanded that Austral ''significantly reduce'' its
fluoride emissions by building new facilities and upgrading technologies.
He said Alcoa
had been advised to limit the kangaroos' access to contaminated foliage and the
EPA was investigating whether the smelter could reduce its emissions.
Mr Dawson said
there were plans to herd the kangaroos away from the most polluted areas.
Latest federal National
Pollutant Inventory figures show Alcoa's
Austral Bricks'
three plants at its Craigieburn site is second largest
with a combined total of 66 tonnes a year. The largest Victorian emitter of
fluoride overall is Melbourne Water.
Austral Bricks'
Victorian general manager, Peter Caughey, said a $75
million expansion of the company's newest plant, which would phase out old
technologies, was expected to reduce fluoride emissions by between 76 and 86
per cent once works were completed in 2011.
He did not admit
emissions from the brickworks were affecting the nearby kangaroos, but said the
company was taking a cautious approach.
The Alcoa
kangaroos live on the 500-hectare Portland Aluminium site, known as the
''Smelter in the Park''.
The park's
operations manager, John Osborne, said the company had taken steps over the years
- including incrementally reducing its emission level and funding the
''We are deeply
concerned by the potential for low-level emissions to affect the health of any
animal grazing close to the smelter and will look for further improvement
opportunities,'' he said.
Wildlife