The Sidney Morning Herald
August 6, 2007
US environmental campaigner Erin Brockovich has joined West Australian residents to examine the merits of a court case against mining giant Alcoa.
About 160 Yarloop residents have complained of respiratory problems, skin irritation, sore throats and eyes, extreme fatigue, mental dysfunction, stomach upset, blood noses, cancers and organ failure in the last 11 years.
They claim emissions from Alcoa’s Wagerup refinery are causing the ill effects.
Ms Brockovich, whose environmental campaign against a Californian mining company was made famous by Julia Roberts in the Hollywood movie Erin Brockovich, agreed to review the case after receiving an email from a Yarloop resident.
“We think we live in a big world but it’s really smaller than you think,” Ms Brockovich said.
“Somebody from the area that was sick, from what they believe to be Alcoa, emailed me.
“I was intrigued with her illnesses and concerned at what she was suffering through and recommended one of our toxicologists see her and he did.
“After he did some testing and researching he said ‘this is something you should look into.’ ”
Alcoa has bought some properties around the refinery but real-estate values for the remaining homes in Yarloop have dived in value.
Yarloop resident and Community Alliance for Positive Solutions action group chairman Vince Puccio said residents just wanted a fair go.
“What we are about is not about shutting Alcoa down, it’s about accountability and for them to take full responsibility for what they’ve done,” Mr Puccio said.
“It’s got nothing to do with shutting it down.
“What we want is a fair go for everybody … not just for Alcoa.”
Simon Morrison, who is acting as Ms Brockovich’s Australian lawyer, said it was too early to start talking about dollars or compensation but he was confident the residents had a good case.
“Obviously to look into the case you have to have some sort of case before you start,” Mr Morrison said.
“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think there were reasonable prospects in the case.
“It’s far too early to start talking dollars.
“What we do know is, something has gone terribly wrong.
“In terms of how much money would compensate these people for what has happened, the short answer is as many dollars as it takes.”
Alcoa of Australia later said its Wagerup refinery was the most studied industrial facility in Western Australia and had been deemed safe for employees and neighbouring communities.
“Wagerup refinery meets the most stringent health and environmental standards in the world and will continue to do so when expanded,” the company said in a statement.
“Alcoa has nothing to hide and will continue to take a transparent and responsible approach to the public release of scientific information about the refinery.
“As it has done with the community and other stakeholders, Alcoa is happy to brief Ms Brockovich on any matters that may be of interest to her.”
See also: The great red mud experiment that went radioactive
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Reuters
By Rob Taylor
7 August 2007
Erin Brockovich joins Down Under refinery fight
CANBERRA – With just a hint of Hollywood, famed U.S. environment warrior Erin Brockovich has joined Australian anti-mine activists in what they believe may be the fight of their lives.
Brockovich, who in the 1990s took on California power company Pacific Gas in a struggle turned into a Hollywood film starring Julia Roberts, added her weight this week to a possible class action suit against mining giant Alcoa in Western Australia state.
History, Brockovich said, might be repeating itself in the tiny town of Yarloop, south of Perth, where local residents have complained of health problems they blame on emissions from the nearby Alcoa bauxite refinery.
“We think we live in a big world but it’s really smaller than you think,” Brockovich told local media on Monday.
“Somebody from the area that was sick, from what they believe to be Alcoa, e-mailed me. I was intrigued with her illnesses and concerned at what she was suffering through.”
Alcoa said the company’s Wagerup refinery had been tested independently and found to be safe.
“Wagerup refinery meets the most stringent health and environmental standards in the world,” the company said in a statement, offering to brief Brockovich “on any matters that may be of interest to her”.
“Alcoa has nothing to hide and will continue to take a transparent and responsible approach to the public release of scientific information about the refinery,” the company said.
Brockovich won a U.S.-record $333 million from Pacific Gas after uncovering a scheme to conceal contamination of groundwater in the town of Hinkley. The saga was turned into the film Erin Brockovich, for which Roberts won an Oscar.
Yarloop residents told Brockovich they believed the Alcoa mine was causing breathing problems, skin irritation, chronic fatigue, mental problems, nosebleeds and even cancer over an 11-year period.
An Australian legal firm, Shine Lawyers, based in Queensland state on Australia’s east coast has offered to fight the case on behalf of 160 Yarloop residents on a no-win, no-cost basis.
“It’s far too early to start talking dollars. What we do know is, something has gone terribly wrong. In terms of how much money would compensate these people for what has happened, the short answer is as many dollars as it takes,” Shine Lawyers Partner Simon Morrison told Australian Associated Press.
“What we are about is not about shutting Alcoa down. It’s about accountability and for them to take full responsibility for what they’ve done,” Yarloop resident and Community Alliance for Positive Solutions action group chairman Vince Puccio said.