Xstrata Must Explain Excessive Mt. Isa Lead Emissions (Update1)
February 19, 2010, 12:25 AM EST(Adds comment from Xstrata in second paragraph.)
By Jason Scott
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc must explain by Feb. 22 what action it’s taking to stop excessive lead emissions after a breach of air quality limits occurred in Mt. Isa, Australia, the state government said.
One of the five monitoring stations in the town recorded over the three months ended Dec. 31 an average level of lead 0.6 micrograms higher than allowed, Queensland state Climate Change Minister Kate Jones said today in an e-mailed statement. Xstrata, which operates a smelter in the town, is verifying the data, the company said in a separate e-mailed statement.
The state’s Department of Environment and Resource Management is “preparing prosecution action against Xstrata,” Jones was cited as saying in the statement. “Xstrata will face the full force of the law,” she said in the statement.
Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata faces a fine of as much as A$2 million ($1.8 million) if it is prosecuted for breaching environmental standards, the government said in the statement. Queensland’s government in May 2008 said it would monitor lead dust and conduct further blood tests on residents after tests showed elevated levels in some children in Mt. Isa, the home of a mine and smelter owned by Xstrata.
“We have sent additional samples for analysis and are currently awaiting results,” the Xstrata statement said. “The health and safety of our workers and the community is Xstrata Mount Isa Mines’ highest priority.”
Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site.
Xstrata gained control of the mine and smelter in 2003 by buying M.I.M. Holdings Ltd. for A$3.44 billion ($2.95 billion).
--Editors: Andrew Hobbs, Keith Gosman
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Jason Scott in Perth at Jscott14@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@Bloomberg.net.
