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Battery
Acid Spill On Board Ship
By Elizabeth O’Brien and Adrian Hill
NSW Community Lead Advisory Service (CLAS)
During the night of May 9th a ship carrying used car batteries hit
stormy weather. The storm was so violent that a container of 40 tonnes of batteries
smashed, disgorging a tonne of sulphuric acid into the hull of the ship, which also
carried containers of foodstuffs. Much of the acid ran into the bilge water and it is to
be hoped that the ships captain complies with a request not to dump the
bilge water at sea
until it can be established how much lead was in the sulphuric acid.
The mining and smelting of lead for car batteries are a major source of
environmental lead contamination. This story highlights the hidden costs and environmental
impacts of recycling of lead acid batteries.
NSW Fire Brigade Hazardous Materials Response Unit was sent to
investigate and decided there was no immediate danger to the environment or personnel. The
ship then sailed into Darling Harbour. Questions remain as to why the ship was allowed to
dock so close to the city centre. Had a fire broken out, there could have been a disaster
toxic fumes would spread in a cloud from the ship. Although the wet weather made this
unlikely, what if the weather had been fine?
The Fire Brigades from 8 fire stations spent around eleven and a half
hours in total, coping with the spill. They used one hundred and thirty air cylinders and
as well as regular fire trucks, they used three emergency services and breathing apparatus
trucks. The EPA Pollution Incidents duty officer who attended the scene was concerned to
know what would have happened had another emergency occurred during the storm, there being
such a significant proportion of the city’s fire response crews tied up on this
cleanup. A Police escort was required to escort the thirty tonnes of debris to Alexandria
for disposal.
The duty officer said the shipping company would probably be charged for cleanup costs.
NSW CLAS hope that the shipping company will be paying all of the costs, with none being
passed on to taxpayers.
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