The deadly Beirut blast that killed more than 100 people has driven fresh calls for a large ammonium nitrate stockpile and plant in Newcastle, storing up to four times the amount reportedly detonated in the blast, to be relocated away from residents.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was in the Beirut blast.
Newcastle’s stockpile of between 6,000 to 12,000 tonnes is stored at Orica’s Kooragang Island plant in the Port of Newcastle, according to the company.
“That factory is only three kilometres from Newcastle’s CBD and only 800 metres from North Stockton residents,” said chemical engineer and community campaigner Keith Craig.
“It’s a totally inappropriate place to have such a dangerous material produced and stored, and it’s something we’ve been complaining about for many, many years.
“Many people would be killed and injured if we had an accident at Orica.”
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/beirut-blast-raises-concern-about-newcastle-ammonium-nitrate/12527546
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