Kooragang Island, Australia — Orica said Feb. 13 that it suspended the restart of its ammonia plant at Kooragang Island because one part of the plant is not operating to a satisfactory level. The facility went down Aug. 8, 2011, after a release of hexavalent chromium. Orica did report some good news last week regarding the Aug. 8 incident, saying tests now show that less of the product was released than originally thought. The original estimate of between 10kg and 20kg of Chromium VI emitted off site has now been corrected to 1 kg, which in turn translates to an estimated 35 grams to 60 grams of Chromium VI deposited across Stockton. Orica Managing Director and CEO Graeme Liebelt said, “These revised figures do not change the fact that we had an incident at Kooragang Island that we deeply regret. We have acknowledged that our response at the time was not what the community expected, and we are continuing to work hard to regain trust and improve our communications. At the time of the incident, the NSW Department of Health advised that the impact on human health from this incident was negligible. These revised figures reinforce this finding.” In the meantime, in a separate incident Feb. 13, Orica reported to authorities a minor release of an estimated three to five litres of nitric acid at its Kooragang Island Nitric Acid #3 Plant. During a routine inspection, operators detected the release from the plant onto the ground. The release was fully contained onsite. Orica is investigating the cause of the release. It said there was no risk to the community, the environment, or the plant from this event.
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