DUST MANAGEMENT —
AIR QUALITY MONITORING — PORT HEDLAND
826. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to the dust monitoring
network currently under the responsibility of Port Hedland Industries Council.
(1) Has the
planned transference of responsibility from the Port Hedland Industries Council
to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation been completed?
(2) If no to (1), why not, and when
is the new deadline for transference?
(3) If yes to
(1), can residents access the real-time monitoring data on the DWER website,
with trends and further analysis reported annually?
(4) What is the cost of the
appropriate cost-recovery arrangement with industry?
(5) Will the
minister table a list of any meetings and/or correspondence between DWER, PHIC
and industry to negotiate the transfer of responsibility, and please include
dates, location and attendees?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) No.
(2) The
Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is continuing work on a memorandum
of understanding with the Port Hedland Industries Council and its member
companies to agree on the appropriate cost-recovery arrangements. DWER received
comments from PHIC on the draft in July 2020 and is currently considering those
comments. DWER expects to formally take over operation of the Port Hedland air
monitoring network in early 2021. In the interim, PHIC will continue to monitor
ambient air quality in Port Hedland and display the results on its website.
(3) Not applicable.
(4) The cost will
not be known until the procurement process and the memorandum of understanding
have been finalised.
(5) Trying to
accommodate the broad scope of this question has not been possible in the
limited time provided. I request that the honourable member put this part of
the question on notice.