SAVE OUR KOALAS!
NO TOXIC DUMP IN IPSWICH!
Public Meeting 3 July 2pm - 4pm Rising Sun Hotel, 27 School Rd, Rosewood
Dr Patricia Petersen has organised a public meeting for local residents concerned about a large-scale, hard-to-place, high impact industries site proposed for Ebenezer, a rural area south-west of Ipswich. High impact industries involve noxious, offensive or hazardous operations. This can include chemical storage, irradiation plants and the processing of banned organochlorine pesticides such as DDT, dieldrin and PCBs. It is totally unacceptable that an industrial development such as this should be considered for this area. Farmers and other residents in Ebenezer rely on clean rain water for drinking and household use, soil and crop production. Beef and agricultural industries out this way are currently very strong, they are thriving.
If this development goes ahead, it will be catastrophic. It will negatively impact on livelihoods. Because the area doesn't have impervious clay, local aquifers will end up being contaminated These feed into the Mr Walker Creek, which flows into the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers. Ipswich doesn't need an environmental disaster such as this, neither does South-East Queensland. The Bremer River is still recovering from a chemical 'dump' from Amberley RAAF Base a year ago, which polluted the waterways.
There is grave concern about the impact that this proposed industrial estate will have on koalas. This area has the highest density of koalas in South-East Queensland. The koalas are healthy, have a long lifespan and are Chlamydia free. If they are disturbed, this koala habitat will be lost forever. This is supported by the Ipswich Koala Protection Society.
The environmental sensitivities are so solemn that the Transport Minister, Rachel Nolan, relocated a proposed train line by over 10 kms to avoid corruption of the area. Given this, it makes no sense at all to consider dumping a high impact industrial development smack bang in the middle of it.
Now is the time to take a stance against such potentially damaging events.
Accessing information is incredibly difficult. Scenic Rim are yet to see any background studies for the planning of Bromelton - which does not include the area potentially earmarked for "sensitive industries". Narangba is home to all manner of nasty industries: chemical storage, timber treatment plants, a tannery, an irradiation plant and the only facility in all of Australia capable of processing banned organochlorine pesticides such as DDT, dieldrin and PCBs.
When The Courier-Mail started publishing stories about Narangba in 2006, Beattie rushed to kill off the issue. He promised to do something about the estate, even suggesting that some of the most offensive industries could be moved elsewhere. Today, residents are still waiting for those pledges to be honoured. $1 million, at least, has been spent on a health impact study examining what harm the estate is having on nearby residents. Four years after it began, that study is yet to be released.