Nexus - 0109 - New Times Magazine-pages

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R:a,di oa:ctiveBe8.G,hes (cid:1) SOME GOLD COAST BEACHES "...(!'he council) say that they're con (cid:1) ARE CONTAMINATED BY RADIO cerned about the environmental -~ffects of(cid:1) A.CTIVE SAND producing more than six 'mining yet they knowa1>out this." Alderman(cid:1) times the recommended safety level of Coomber admitted ",'some hot spots"',;ap (cid:1) was radiatIon. peared when rutile exposed temporarily(cid:1) According to Mr Peter Neumann, rp.an after storms.(cid:1) aging 4irector of Currulnbin Minerals, the This writer has personally investigated(cid:1) Gold Coast City CO¥J1cil suppressed this some old sand mlning areas in .Northern(cid:1) ~ 1fT , _ _ c information due to fears about its effect on NSW with a Geiger counter, finding extraor _~~·f •(cid:1) ... , tourism. Council beach and foreshores com- dinary levels of radiation at some locations.(cid:1) mittee chairperson Alderman Trevor The mining process concentrates heavy ra (cid:1) l;~els, Coomber admitted the high in but d,ioactive elements'by 'placirig the sand a(cid:1) claimed they were not danger2us lIIld that Mr centrifuge, and less economically useful(cid:1) l~ft Neumann was "setting up a smokesCreen" to radioactive eremeJits are simply in'high ALL MAJOR AUSTRJ\LIAN BANKS(cid:1) divert'attention from itS sand miriing. concenttationS in'tailings in many arw.(cid:1) HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THEY I{AVE Mr Neumann claims radiation levels of Sand !pining for rutile has been under FITTED ,CAMERAS inside their: automatic about 180 microrems per minute were found taken for decades right around our coasts and teller machines, Westpac, Commonwcallh, during two surveys'by'the Queensland' Uni has left these tailings in many places. One National Australia and ANZ banks have fit . t ..•:t' • versity of Technology which were commis notable example, is at Byron Bay, where ted the cameras (which ~«-in most cases not siOned by C~mbin. The generally ac radioactiile tailings were-'given away as free visible) ill the interests, of 'security'. Some l cepted 'international standard' safe dose,of landflll to private individuals and construc cameras run continually, according to West radiation is about 60 microrerns/minute, tion projects including the local)tospital and pac spoke~personMr Tony BelUler. The film ~hiliQueenslancihasa 27 microrem safety atleast one school. We know ofthis example is held by the bankindefinitely andprocessed level standard. because atownexpanded around the tailings. only if there C; a dispute or fraud is discov. "One survey was conducted atTugun and Who knows how many other areas are simi ered; but videotapes from 24 hour surveil the other at Tugun, Burleigh Heads and Bi! larly affected? lance cameras requires no processing. An inga, all major tourist beaches. Protesters repeatedly blocked the path of ANZ spokesperson,claimed they were pri "Highly radioactive sand was found over heavy machinery mining at a 350 metre marily designed to stop vandalism. a(cid:2) wide area on those beaches," said Mr stretch of beach at Tugun in June, forcing "It's like a general deploying his troops," Neumann.(cid:2) Currumbin Minerals to stop sand milling announced Mr John Marsden of the Austra Currumbin is mining rutile, which con there several times, In June the Gold Coast lian Banker's Association. "He docsn't use tains the radioactive mineral monozite. Council asked the Queensland Government all the artillery all the time, and part of the "Gold Coast beaches are covered in this to revoke the company's long-standing lease value of having that piece of equipment in rutile," said Mr Neumann.(cid:2) on the beach. your armoury is that.it is not known about." "The banker/customer relationship in(cid:1) o o my opinion does not inciude random photo (cid:1) •(cid:2) ~ graphing of transactions," said Federal Pri (cid:1) vacy Commissioner and, Human Rights(cid:1) Commission member Mr Kevin O'ColUlor.(cid:1) •(cid:2) "People shouldbepennitted to go about their ilUlocentsocial activity without feeling wor ried that someone has a photo of them which :(cid:1) may be used in some"way to 'trace their movements or possibly to embarrass them," II ccrliltllly 1<.;11', all)' pklllC heing il\n~ ....I:llnllHllcllI ....... Illy IIHHIR'(' "';'/•,•,1".' '< >: > -..: /: / ;: (cid:1) tilt:d "Ill'" hn':l1 HI Illy t:;lr lIugging SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS HAVE litr~s pe~ offuel oil co~ld week which .~~ sell for "'e !~:'.~ ?'ij "u,,)' _. / (.. PAVED THE WAY for the. conversion of as little,as 30e a litre. '~.( !', ~,~_)'-I ~r@"" ". ~;tlC_f.lr~H~)i\1}.\.J' ,---= sewage sludge to cheap fuel oil. "The concept is mind-bogglfug and de-' ; 1~" .. ..,,' ,r. / ....... 1. (r. ) •(cid:2) A $320,000 contractwas awarded earlier serves a thorough sCIentific exanunatJon, ~ t./(I "7••t''' itpJf!J (cid:1) ,,' 11~' ,I>.. :bl~.~ th.is year for a pilot oil-from-sewage plant at saidNSWEnvironmentMinisterTimMoore Q ,/:, ' tr(cid:1) " " .(cid:1) ~ Sydney's Malabar sewage treatment plant. as he announ~ed , th~ j.'f, plan.(cid:2) " f / the~ompany Canipbell Environmental Ltd, f; ( \.--\\~ "It is obviously preferable to tum sludge .'""". 0, ~ which will run the pilot study, claim to be into valuable fuel oil ifpossible rather than I(cid:1) able torecover300litresoffueloilfromeach cont~uingtoj~tdumpitinrothes.ea,incin- _"'_ ' ( ~ tOlUle of sludge. Using these figures the erate It or use It as land fiIl," he saJ.d. ~ Malabar works could produce up to 70,000(cid:1) e