In the Letters to the Editor column this week is one from Tony Laws from the Department of Environment (Water and Rivers Commission). Of course, sitting in his Perth office, he knows how things should be done in Kununurra a lot better than the locals and has all the information at his fingertips. In fact so much so that he can read a factual front page story in the Kimberley Echo and brand it Ôinaccurate and misleadingÕ. Just to inform him of the true situation, let us play a game of questions and answers and we will answer the questions I feel sure Mr Laws couldnÕt. Question: Where does the runoff of the main industrial area in Kununurra go? Answer: a 10 metre wide by 3.5 metre wide channel that goes under the Victoria Highway near the intersection with Ivanhoe Road. Q: Where does it go after that? A: The ÔBorrow PitsÕ, once the townÕs dump at a time when cotton was being sprayed with numerous chemicals more than 50 times a year. Q: Could there be drums of chemicals rotting away in this site? A: Yes. Q: Is this old dump in the priority one section of the catchment area for the Kununurra Bore Field that supplies the townÕs drinking water? A: Yes. |
Q: Is there a channel connecting these pits to Lake Kununurra? A: Yes, and during the wet season water from the pits flows out into the lake. Q: Would this water flow along the edge of the priority one area and be some of the water that is filtered through gravel into the bore field? A: Almost certainly. Q: Has the Department investigated the site of the old dump by digging or taking core samples? A: No. Q: Has the Water Corporation tested the area? A: No. Q: Are there hundreds of old drums, car bodies, glass dumps and other material strewn across the priority one zone? A: Yes. Q: Does the next boundary of the priority one area (going in a clockwise direction) border the main irrigation channel, which is regularly injected with the chemical acrolene. A: Yes. Q: Is the next border of the priority area the Victoria Highway, where dangerous goods are carried regularly? A: Yes. |
Q: Is there already a caravan park and a refuelling dock for a floatplane in the priority one zone? A: Yes. Q: As these operators wonÕt be able to expand their businesses, is there any plan to compensate them? A: No. Q: If Mr Laws believes his department intends Ôto release more land once an alternative source has been provenÕ, why does he also say, in the same letter, ÔKununurra has only one identified source of public drinking water and it is important that this is protected for future generationsÕ. A: Mr Laws might be trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Q: Is Mr Laws aware that traces of dieldrin have been found in the drinking water that he describes as Ôsafe and well protectedÕ? A: He should be. Q: How often is the water tested? A: Once a month. Q: Did Waters and Rivers rush to get out the interim report to stop the clearing of two introduced weeds in the area, leucaena and sorghum? A: We canÕt prove it, but every indication points that way. |