Outraged Stockton residents jeered and heckled Orica officials last night as they tried to apologise for last week’s leak of the toxic chemical hexavalent chromium from their plant.
More than 200 people packed the public meeting to seek answers, in particular why the multinational company never called emergency services the night of the industrial accident, which would have prompted public warnings.
Residents said the company had lost their trust and they remained angry about the three-day delay in notifying them of the leak.
The residents told of children with rashes, family members with aggravated asthma and pets with irritated eyes.
Orica general manager James Bonner apologised on behalf of the company.
‘‘We are really sorry about this incident,’’ he said. ‘‘We are absolutely committed to it not happening again.’’
Company representatives were repeatedly heckled by the crowd, who accused them of lying and covering up the accident.
Orica’s site manager Stuart Newman told the crowd that an accident like last week’s hexavalent chromium leak had never happened before.
He said it was caused when water got into a vent and mixed with a catalyst, creating a chemical the company was not practised in dealing with.
He said the company’s first priority that night had been its staff and its next major concern was stopping the hexavalent chromium running off-site and into the Hunter River.
Mr Bonner and the other company representatives last night sought to assure residents that testing had found levels of the chemical in the community were low and posed no health threat.
Stockton resident Simon Rook said he was out fishing off Stockton at the time of the spill.
He asked independent toxicologist John Frangos if he could assure him he would be OK. He was told ‘‘yes’’.
John Hayes, of Mayfield, said the wind could have easily been blowing towards Mayfield, Honeysuckle or Cooks Hill.
He said it wasn’t a Stockton issue it was a ‘‘Newcastle issue’’.
‘‘Maybe what has to happen is their licence needs to be revoked,’’ he said.
Resident Steve Abrahall asked why the company did not realise immediately that residents downwind of the leak would be affected.
‘‘Didn’t the penny drop or are your control systems that lame?’’ he asked.
‘‘Didn’t you know there was wind blowing or did you think you could get away with it?’’
For a gallery of pictures charting the Orica chemical leak, click here.
While some residents were concerned about the suburb’s reputation and property values, others were more concerned with potential long-term health effects.
Many conceded that while the leak had been an accident, the company’s worst mistake was the way it handled matters in the wake of the contamination.
Newcastle MP Tim Owen, who was at last night’s meeting, also faced a barrage of questions about the government’s response and law enforcement.
Background Briefing related to Orica
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