Skip to main content
Home
  • The Legislative Assembly meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Assembly sit 16/04/2024
  • The Legislative Council meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Council sit 16/04/2024
  • The Public Administration meets on 08/04/2024 (10:00 AM)
    Committee meet 08/04/2024

Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 1788 asked in the Legislative Council on 20 November 2018 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 2384- View tabled paper


Question

I refer to the Environmental Compliance Report from the Pilbara Ports Authority for the 12 months ended 2 June 2018, and ask:
(a) is the Minister aware that on 20 September 2018, the Pilbara Ports Authority submitted to your department its Annual Audit Compliance Report Form for the period ended 30 June 2018, in which the Chief Executive Officer of the Pilbara Ports Authority declared that the Authority did not comply with all of its licence conditions during the reporting period;
(b) is the Minister aware that Section E of the Form, which was required to be filled out, listing “Details of Non-Compliance with Licence Condition” was omitted from the form as displayed to the public on the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation website;
(c) is the Minister aware that the measurement of air quality required under the Pilbara Ports Authority’s Environmental Licence No. L4432/1989/14 is undertaken at the Taplin Street dust monitor, and that provision of this data to Pilbara Ports Authority is via the Port Hedland Industries Council;
(d) is the Minister aware that the Taplin Street monitor is located 2.6 km away from the Pilbara Ports Authority’s port loading facility boundary where emissions may impact on the local residents;
(e) is the Minister aware that, based on the Bureau of Meteorology wind direction diagrams, the Taplin Street dust monitor is located in a position that gets the absolute minimum wind that would carry dust from port operations;
(f) will the Minister now take action to ensure that new dust monitors are placed on the Pilbara Ports Authority boundary and not several kilometres away, so that any dust emissions that may impact local residents can be detected immediately at the boundary; and
(g) if no to (f), why not?

Answered on 12 February 2019

(a) Yes

 

(b) The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has advised me that the omission of non-compliances detailed in 4 pages of the published Annual Audit Compliance Report for Pilbara Ports Authority’s (PPA) Eastern Operations was an administrative error. Once the Department became aware of the omission, on 23 November 2018 the Annual Audit Compliance Report for PPA was republished in full on the Department’s website. See tabled paper no. #

 

(c) Yes

 

(d) Yes

 

(e) The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has advised me that this statement is not correct based on its review of meteorological data. The Taplin Street monitor receives a consistent amount of wind from the direction of the Pilbara Port Authority (PPA) when compared to other directions.

 

(f)-(g) No. Air quality monitors are already located on the boundary of the PPA’s Eastern Operations premises at Nelson Point. The Licence (L4432/1989/14) issued by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation includes conditions requiring PPA to report on measures taken in the event of exceedances to air quality criteria set for these monitors.  

 

There is a large network of strategically located air quality monitors throughout Port Hedland including on the boundaries of all the other main Port Hedland port users.