Orica reports mercury leak from Sydney site
Embattled chemical company Orica has reported a leak of mercury vapour from a facility in Sydney's south-east.
Orica only informed the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) yesterday afternoon of the escape in December from a stack at its Car Park Waste Remediation Project at Botany.
A monitoring sample recorded a reading of 0.49 milligrams per cubic metre of the toxic metal.
EPA acting chief regulator Gary Whytcross says the reading it twice the regulated limit but still within safe limits.
He says he has no concerns about the time it took for Orica to notify the EPA.
"The testing takes a matter of weeks to actually be finalised and be provided to us, so that's not out of the ordinary," Mr Whytcross.
"I want to assure members of the community that this potential breach does not pose a risk to public health or the environment.
"We consider this incident to be relatively minor and the EPA has already started its investigation into what occurred there."
Orica treats contaminated soil at the facility, stored under an open-air car park.
The plant is currently closed for general maintenance and will now remain shut while the EPA investigates.
Orica has been under intense pressure since August last year, mostly over the operations of its Kooragang Island Ammonia Plant in Newcastle.
Public anger was initially prompted by a leak of the carcinogen hexavalent chromium into neighbouring suburbs.
The EPA then closed the Newcastle facility after a series of subsequent leaks, with the plant only reopening a fortnight ago.
Environment Minister Robyn Parker says she is concerned by the latest leak.
"I need some early answers in terms of why this happened. It's certainly not good enough from Orica, yet again," Ms Parker said.
"We've got strong environmental legislation and the EPA is watching and auditing all of these facilities."