Australia coal plant still polluting river beyond guidelines
By BEN CUBBY, ENVIRONMENT EDITOR
April 20, 2010 THE NSW government has tightened the pollution licence of a coal-fired power plant near Lithgow that is releasing toxic metals into a river that feeds Sydney’s drinking water supply. Delta Electricity, the owner of Wallerawang power plant, must now monitor heavy metals and pollutants such as arsenic flowing into a channel that enters the Coxs River and report back to the government every three months. But the latest results show that Delta is still polluting the river above safe guideline levels in some instances, more than two years after the government was warned that discharges from the plant were killing aquatic life. The amount of copper leaching into the river remains above Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council guidelines, at levels that can be deadly for fish and other river creatures. … Independent water quality tests taken in 2008 and 2009 established that the river near the power station was contaminated with high levels of heavy metals including zinc, copper and manganese, 125 times more sulphate than surrounding streams and just 5 per cent of the oxygen that most fish need. The river’s acidity levels were up to 1000 times higher than in nearby creeks, and the river was 80 times saltier than it should be. …
