According to a recent media release (6 June 1997) put out jointly by the Minister for the Environment Senator the Hon. Robert Hill, and the Minister for Resources and Energy Senator the Hon. Warwick Parer, "the phase out of leaded petrol will be completed by the year 2010."

Pasminco adopts ISO 14001

Pasminco states in its annual report that it has adopted ISO 14001, which requires identification of the legal framework within which the Company operates and the impacts or effects of the operations on the environment.

Tremors in Broken Hill

Police in Broken Hill said that tremors felt in the south of the city were from ground shifting in Pasminco Broken Hill Mine. Apparently, there was no blasting going on in the mine at that time. Reportedly, windows were shaken in houses and the grandstand at a football match moved slightly.

Whistleblower

Coordinator of the Lead Advisory Service (NSW), Elizabeth O’Brien, had a chapter written about her and The LEAD Group in a new book by Quentin Dempster called The Whistleblowers. The chapter describes how Elizabeth set up The LEAD Group after her children became lead poisoned. The book is published by Allen & Unwin and costs $16.95.

U.K.’s Air Pollution Kills

Air Pollution in the United Kingdom, mainly caused by traffic, is responsible for around 6,000 heart attacks per year, according to a report published in the latest issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The report by Dr. Jan Poloniecki of St. George’s Hospital in London, found that the link between heart attacks and air pollution was present only in the warmer months from April to September.

NSW Waste Reduction Target

NSW Waste Boards have been set a 60% waste reduction target by the year 2000 by the NSW Government. The local government rate-charge system has been altered to allow waste removal to be charged outside the controlled Council rates.

Lead Litigation

Lead expert Jason Bawden-Smith addressed the Insurance Council in Sydney recently on the topic of lead litigation. When asked whether he thought lead litigation could be as big as asbestos litigation, he said "we can only hope it will be that small".

Ku-ring-gai Council Car Dependency Precedent

Ku-ring-gai Council have passed resolutions to help reduce car dependency, namely: to not upgrade a local road; oppose proposals to build entry ramps onto the F3 Freeway anywhere in Ku-ring-gai; to improve the capacity of the North Shore Railway Line; improve parking at railway stations and to provide a cycleway in the railway easement from Hornsby to Milson’s Point. The resolutions were passed unanimously.

Free Lead Testing in Tweedshire

Tweedshire Council in NSW introduced a free lead testing service for paint for local residents recently. Such a service is provided free in Queensland, but not normally in NSW.

Lead and Crime

According to R. Mokhiber in his book Corporate Crime and Violence: Big Business Power and the Abuse of Public Trust (Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1988 p.334) The three most "crime-producing" industries in the US (that is, industries that involve the greatest amount of corporate crime) are: oil and petrochemicals, the car industry and pharmaceuticals.

Lead Survey

A survey published in the journal "Public Health Nursing" [1997 Jun;14 (3) :161-8] found that 18.5% of a sample of children enrolled in the "Head Start" Program (a program which teaches parenting skills to parents of disadvantaged children) had elevated blood lead levels. This result would need to be interpreted by being compared to a control group.

Alcohol and Smoking Study