Queensland Alumina Ltd fined $500k in damages over 2018 environmental breach in Gladstone
FriFriday 18
updated
FriFriday 18
DecDecember 2020 at 6:40am
Queensland Alumina Limited is one of the largest alumina refineries in the world and is owned by Rio Tinto and aluminium company Rusal.
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Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) has pleaded guilty to environmental charges over a 2018 incident where chemicals were mistakenly released into the atmosphere, and fined $500,000 in Gladstone Magistrates Court one of the largest environmental fines in Queensland.
Key points:
The defence attorney admitted the incident was serious
QAL has been in court five times for similar breaches
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Two Queensland Alumina Limited staff were not properly trained to prevent a serious environmental breach when the alarm was raised on September 8, 2018, a court has heard.
The error resulted in a two to three tonne slurry of alkaline bauxite being released into the air which travelled 11km south and impacted 119 properties and vehicles in the South Tree Industrial State and caused $868,906.78 in insurance payouts.
Crown prosecutor Deborah Holiday, acting for the Department of Environment and Science, told Gladstone Magistrates Court an alarm was raised at 5.55pm where a control room supervisor requested an electrician investigate the incident who in turn contracted a technical specialist.
EXCLUSIVE: A billion dollar-plus net worth wasn t on Mal Pratt s mind when he left the family business with just a shovel, a ute and a hammer to pursue his dream of being a builder. It was a different time then. Unemployment could be solved with a trip to the Maroochy Pub for a chat with the clientele. A job was usually secured within the first few schooners. Bosses would send labourers to help on another site if they knew a fellow builder was short a set of hands. It was 1972. Having spent time as a lifeguard and a board shaper alongside the legendary Hayden Kenny, the call of the trade was too much for Mr Pratt to ignore.