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About the Altona Complex Neighborhood Consultative Group The ACNCG provides an effective forum to raise and discuss issues of particular environmental interest, complaints and health and safety issues of mutual interest or concern. ACNCG Membership The Altona Complex Neighbourhood Consultative Group (ACNCG) was set up in early 1989 to facilitate discussions between the chemical industry, regulators and local residents. Today, the group continues to work together to minimise the negative effects of the chemical industry on the local environment. T: 03 9258 7333 (ACNCG Community Liaison Advisor) E: acncg@qenos.com The ACNCG membership is comprised of local residents, delegates from the three companies which constitute the Altona Chemical Complex, delegates from the City of Hobsons Bay and representatives for the three bodies who exercise a regulatory function over the Complex companies. Local resident members
(Note: Resident members are nominated at the Annual General Meeting. Residents considering nomination for membership on the ACNCG are encouraged to attend at least three of the previous four meetings.) The
Altona Chemical Complex members Council members: Regulatory Authority members • For the Altona Chemical Complex and the community to participate together to encourage continuous environmental improvement and regularly monitor environmental, health and safety performance (including the companies Environmental Improvement Plans) of the Altona Chemical Complex and to receive formal feedback • To receive information on what the Altona Chemical Complex proposes (including modernisation, environmental performance and improvement plans) • To receive regulatory authority information in relation to the Altona Chemical Complex • To consider aesthetic environment improvement to the area surrounding the complex • To improve the regulation standards and control of the Altona Chemical Complex and the chemical industry in general. Roles • To provide a communication process that highlights the health safety and environmental issues to the broader community, surrounding companies and other interested parties, utilising a variety of means such as the City of Hobsons Bay Council newsletter, local newspapers and the Consultative Chronicle newsletter • To prove comment to organisations such as government agencies with regard to regulation and control • To receive information, discuss and provide comment on any developmental proposals that affect the Complex • To promote and assist other industry based consultative groups Community Liaison Communication between
industry, the community and regulators is facilitated by two positions
resourced by the Altona Chemical Complex and based at Qenos Olefins
site. The duties of the Complex Environmental Advisor and the Complex
Community Liaison Advisor include: The
Consultative Chronicle Newsletter Latest newsletter link The Consultative Chronicle is the newsletter of the ACNCG. The newsletter is printed twice annually and is the principle method of communication between the ACNCG and the wider community. Each edition is delivered to approximately 10,000 households and businesses in Altona and Altona Meadows. A further 2,000 copies are mailed to community organisations and circulated to employees within the Complex companies. The ACNCG newsletter editorial committee, a sub-committee of the ACNCG, produces the newsletter. The newsletter conveys the news and views of the entire ACNCG. All members are supplied with a draft copy before publication with the right to criticise and change content. As with all activities of the ACNCG constant vigilance is required by all to ensure that the information conveyed is unbiased, factual, relevant and interesting to the general public. Members of the community are encouraged to contribute questions and content to the newsletter. Contact us 1800 061 050 The Environmental Action
Line is a 24-hour free-call hotline set up by the Complex to provide
an immediate response to residents. The Action Line is staffed by Qenos Olefins shift personnel. Every call is recorded and details passed on to the EPA and Council within two days. Personal details of the complainant are not passed on. All calls are investigated immediately and, if the source of the problem is within the Complex, endeavours are made to have the problem addressed and to notify the caller of the result as soon as possible. The caller may elect to remain anonymous and will not under these circumstances receive a callback. The Action Line aims to improve the communication between industry and its neighbours. Complainants receive immediate replies to concerns knowing that the EPA and Council will also be involved. An information magnet advertising the number of the Environmental Action Line is available from the ACNCG. The number has been distributed to all households who receive the Consultative Chronicle. All calls on the environment Action Line are reported within two days to the Environment Protection Authority and to the Council, and to the next Meeting of the ACNCG. The Action Line does not replace the service provided by the Environment Protection Authority and Council but provides a complementary service, which includes a visit to the site of the complaint. If an incident occurs at a Complex site which results in multiple complaints the company involved will contact all households in the area affected with a printed apology and explanation. Year-to-date numbers of complaints are reported in each edition of the Consultative Chronicle. The Chemical Industry holds a regular public event to encourage the public to visit sites around Victoria. Contact PACIA for more information on (03)9426 0690 or www.pacia.org.au As the Altona Chemical Complex is located close to residents, schools and kindergartens, some incidents may have the potential to cause unacceptable environmental impact on the community. The telephone network consists of direct-dial telephones in eight local schools, kindergartens, the Hobsons bay City Council and the Westgate Migrant resource centre in Altona North. These telephones are not connected to switchboards and have unlisted numbers. A dedicated telephone network has been established to enable local schools, kindergartens, the Westgate Migrant resource Centre and the Hobsons Bay City Council to be notified promptly if there is an incident which may causse alarm or risk. These phones can also be used to seek information about matters of concern in relation to the complex. The sounding of the community alarm (which is tested on the first Sunday of each month at 10 am) will take precedence over any notification provided via these telephones, and should be responded to immediately. Follow-up information will be provided by telephone. Environment Monitoring Teams (EMTs) Environmental Monitoring
Teams or EMTs are sub-groups of the ACNCG whose principle task is
to monitor the Environment Improvement Plans for each company. Companies are also encourages to include an EMT resident members in any incident investigations. Membership and rotation and of ACNCG resident members between EMT teams is voluntary and optional. To become a part of a company's EMT group it is not necessary to be a resident member of the ACNCG. Interested members of the community should contact the ACNCG Community Liaison Advisor on 03 9258 7333. Environmental Improvement Plans Because of the reduction in emissions from the Complex and elsewhere, all Complex companies have significantly reduced volatile organic compound emissions since 1989. To ensure ongoing improvements in cleaner production, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has formulated a system of regulating companies that have a good safety and environmental record, good management systems in place and a commitment to clean and safe production. All the following criteria must be met before a company will be considered for Accredited Licensee status: • An Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) must be formulated with the assistance of the EPA, Council and the community. The EIP will detail improvements to be made and set target dates for the completion of this work •An Environment Management System must be in place and certified against an approved standard •An Environmental
Audits Program must be in place involving independent auditors. This concept of placing more reliance on the industry to be responsible for compliance to the standards set by the regulatory bodies is controversial. It relies heavily on involvement by community members and of their being alert and aware of company practices and, more importantly, company culture. This is difficult to obtain and even more difficult to sustain. It is important that the EPA maintain a close relationship with their Licensees and other members of the Environmental Monitoring Teams. This is especially important when there is a change of management in industry as company culture is fostered from the top down. Success of the Environmental Improvement Plans will be measured in a reduction of incidents affecting health, safety and environment, an improvement in the stewardship of raw materials and products, a reduction of resource use and the elimination of waste ACNCG meetings are held
three times a year, 3rd week in April, July and November and are open to all members of the community. Meetings are open to the whole community. So if you need information, or have any questions, opinions or complaints to voice, please attend the meetings or contact us by phone or email, acncg@qenos.com any time. Agenda Meetings includes a presentation by each company summarising environmental, health and safety performance since the last meeting, reports on each company form the EPA, Worksafe Victoria, City West Water and Council detailing any complaints received during the previous month and details of planning permit applications, work approvals and licence alterations requested for the Complex or the surrounding area. Each company reports on progress being planned or in process, the progress of Environment Improvement Plans, training programs, emergency response exercises or ongoing issues, for example, contaminated ground water or disposal of odorous wastewater. This procedure was negotiated when the State government granted the Complex companies as-of-right planning privileges which meant that the industry was not required to notify their neighbours of all developments on their sites. The compromise reached then was that industries would notify the ACNCG as early in the planning procedure as possible of any on-site changes contemplated. It is the ACNCG responsibility to advertise the information as widely as possible into the community and to assist industry to focus on the need to reduce the environmental impact of any new development. The EPA, City West Water, and Worksafe
Victoria discuss any breach of licence or changes in procedure,
which may impact, on the Complex or the local area. Members of the public, Complex employees and other interested parties are encouraged to attend as observers. The Chair will invite visitors to comment or raise issues of concern at the commencement of the meeting. Decision-making by the group is by consensus. Environmental
Monitoring Team meetings Environmental Improvement Team (EMT) meetings are held bi-monthly by each company on alternate months to the ACNCG meeting. Meetings are open to the community. A delegate from the respective company chairs meetings. EMTs report back to the
following ACNCG bi-monthly meeting. Minutes of EMTs are
included in the agenda of the ACNCG and clarification and explanation
given to the broader group if requested. Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting
(AGM), hosted by the Hobsons Bay City Council, is held on the third
Thursday of July each year, commencing at 5.30 pm with a light supper
before the meeting at 6.00 pm. New resident members may be nominated. Residents considering nomination for membership on the ACNCG are encouraged to attend at least three of the previous four meetings. The ACNCG Chair is appointed from Council, and the Deputy Chair elected by the group from nominated resident members. History
of the ACNCG (by the late Nessie Hardy, one of the founding members of the ACNCG) The Chemical Complex comes to Altona The largest concentration of the chemical manufacturing industry in the Southern Hemisphere is situated in Altona, a pleasant bayside suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Until 1961, Altona was a quiet residential area surrounded by extensive paddocks, which were used as agistment for horses. In 1961, these paddocks became development sites for the chemical industry. Fed the necessary feedstock by the recently expanded Mobil Altona Refinery and serviced by the industries of the adjoining suburbs and with easy access to ports and major roads, the location was ideal to industry. This development was considered to be but less than ideal to neighbouring residents. Land zoned for residential use extended to within three hundred metres of a large petrochemical plant. The Altona Chemical Complex brought with it progress, profit, people, problems and pollution. The residents were assured that the noise, smoke and smell associated with the start-up of the various plants would lessen as they settled into the normal routine. Environmental, health and safety fears begin The noise, smoke and smell associated with industry startup did decrease, but not nearly enough to satisfy residents and there were many incidents involving injury to workers and releases of toxic emissions. Residents were constantly annoyed and fearful. One company alone, B.F. Goodrich (Australian Vinyls) had two potentially catastrophic accidents resulting in the release of six hundred and seventy six tonnes of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in one incident and eleven tonnes of the same material in another. Vinyl chloride monomer is a flammable, volatile carcinogen. Luckily both these releases were dissipated by favourable winds. The local community moves to action Relying on the vagaries of wind strength and direction to save us from disaster was not comfortable. Local residents were also fearful of the effect the constant emissions were having on general health. There were many individual protests but the people felt isolated and ignored. Much anger was expressed to friends and family and concern felt about the health effects of these exposures but most felt powerless to take their complaints further. Some of the factors
that influenced this feeling of powerlessness were: Although the officers of the Council health department did their best to cooperate, they were frustrated by lack of proof that would stand scrutiny. Many odours are transitory. Calls to the industry were stonewalled. There was no communication between management and residents. Even after the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) was set up in 1971, it was not felt to be nothing more than a bureaucracy set up to licence industrial emissions. It was remote and difficult to contact after office hours. In spite of all these restrictions, a small group of concerned residents got together and called a public meeting, which was attended by 150 angry people. It was at this meeting that the Altona Environmental Action Group was formed. This group played an important role in focussing the fear and anger of the community and providing a forum for concerns to be discussed with a view to resolving the problems. At the time, many felt the only resolution would be the closing of the industry. The Environmental Action Group questioned the right of the chemical industry to impact on the health, safety and amenity of the local residents. Every development proposal by the industry was opposed. There were street marches, placards, public meetings, petitions and letters to the editor in both daily metropolitan and local papers. The situation comes to a head The situation came to
a head in 1986 when an application to establish a Social Club on
undeveloped land close to the Complex was refused because the Chemical
Complex, Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the Ministry
of Employment and Training appealed against the City of Altona's
intention to grant a permit. The grounds for refusal were proposed
development would A further important aggravating factor was the Government's quantitative risk assessment study conducted by Technica which found inappropriate levels of risk to residents living close to the Chemical Complex. This finding was of great concern to local residents many of whom lived closer to the Complex than the proposed Social Club would have been. Planning amendments were drawn up which restricted use of all land near the Complex. This action angered the local residents who believed their homes were devalued and the area stigmatised. The Complex companies were not totally happy with the amendments and other industrial landowners also opposed them. The situation was inflamed by Company announcements of expansion plans made in ignorance or disregard of local residents concerns. A stalemate had been reached. Finding common ground: The formation of the Altona Complex Neighbourhood Consultative Group In late 1988 Dr Ken Coghill, the Labor Member for Werribee, held a number of public meetings to which he invited residents, representatives of the Chemical Complex, the City of Altona, the Environment Protection Authority and the Department of Planning and Environment. The aim of the meetings was to investigate ways in which the various parties could be brought together and an equitable solution found. As a result of these negotiations the Altona Complex Neighbourhood Consultative Group (ACNCG) was set up to facilitate discussions between industry, regulators and residents. The first meetings were very difficult with the Complex employees expecting to be shouted at and the residents expecting to be patronised. Walking into a company's premises took courage and was seen by some onlookers as selling out. This suspicion made it extremely difficult to make any progress and often members felt that it was a waste of time and energy but gradually the barriers have been lowered. The matters of concern raised at these meetings were considered when the next amendment was presented in April 1990. The principle change in this was that the residential zone would retain its Residential C status. This took the sting out of residents' objections to a degree but having been alerted to the danger acknowledged by the authorities a small group continued to be involved in discussions with Council, EPA and Industry. The 'them and us' attitude
decreased as the industry representatives learned that it was possible
to explain technical problems to untrained people (untrained, that
is, in chemical engineering) and the residents have learned to focus
on the problems at hand. Awards Clean Air Award. Media Award to the Consultative Chronicle, City West Water Community Environment Award, 2002. Victoria Environment Award recognising ACNCG's pioneering role in establishing community partnerships between industry and local community, Environment Protection Authority, 1996. Providing leadership in community consultation process The ACNCG has been host to many people from Australia and overseas who are interested in studying the group's method of consultation. Members of the ACNCG have been invited to address other industry/resident groups and to assist them in developing lines of communication. An ACNCG member was a delegate to the National Community Advisory Panel for the Responsible Care program of the Plastics and Chemical Industry Association. This position has involved assisting the formulation of Codes of Practice that form the core of the program and ongoing input to discussions of compliance with the codes and the spirit of Responsible Care. Sub-committees and individual
members of the ACNCG have: Promotion of the community's 'right to know' The demonstration of the acknowledgment that the community does have the right to know of potential impact on them by industrial processes is one of the more encouraging outcomes of the co-operation between industry and its neighbours. This is not to say that Australia does not need Right to Know legislation but this local initiative should demonstrate that not only is it possible to live with such legislation but that if industry have nothing except commercial secrets to hide it will not be a problem to them and will help to break down barriers. Ignorance breeds fear. Providing insight into chemical industry standards and practices The work of the ACNCG
has contributed an acknowledgment by government and industry that
the community does have a right to know if an incident occurs in
any of the Complex companies which could have had a health, safety
or environmental effect. We expect that industry
management will achieve a higher standard of excellence if they
are encouraged in their efforts and rewarded for their achievements
than if they are forced to comply with a minimum standard and threatened
with punishment if they fail. Together we are trying to create a culture of care and responsibility. |