Pollution notification

In accordance with Section 5.7A of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (the Act), Orica Kooragang Island has a Pollution Incident Response Management Plan (PIRMP) in place.

The PIRMP sets out the measures used to prevent and minimise the risk of pollution incidents and outlines how timely and accurate information will be provided to relevant authorities and stakeholders. If a pollution incident occurs, as defined in the Act, Orica Kooragang Island will implement the PIRMP.

Where practicable, the following information will be recorded and provided to the agencies and stakeholders requiring notification:

• The time, date, nature, duration and location of the pollution incident
• The location of the place where hazard/pollution is occurring or is likely to occur
• The nature, estimated quantity or volume and concentration of any hazards/pollutants involved
• The circumstances in which the pollution incident occurred (including the cause of the incident, if known); and
• The action taken or proposed to be taken to deal with the pollution incident and any resulting risks/pollution or threatened risks/pollution

Australia's national emergency phone number—triple zero (000)—will be dialled if the incident presents an immediate threat to human health or property.

New South Wales' emergency services (Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Police, and the NSW Ambulance service) are the first responders responsible for controlling and containing incidents at Orica Kooragang Island.

If the incident does not require emergency services (or after triple zero has been called) the following authorities will be contacted in the listed order:

• Environment Protection Authority (phone: 131 555)
• Hunter New England Local Health District (phone: 02 4921 3000)
• SafeWork NSW (phone: 13 10 50)
• City of Newcastle (phone: 02 4974 2000 Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm (02 4974 1399 after hours))
• Fire and Rescue NSW (phone: 000) if not already dialled

Following the above reporting process, communication will occur with potentially affected groups as soon as practicable:

• Community groups—determined based on the nature/scale of the pollution incident and the current weather conditions.
• Community members (including owners/occupiers of industrial, commercial and residential properties) will be contacted via door knocks or letterbox drops.
• People under the care of others (school children, elderly and health care residents) will be contacted via phone calls, door knocks or letter box drops.
• Businesses in adjacent industries will be contacted via the site emergency radio network, phone calls, door knocks or letter box drops.

Community notifications will include, where possible:

• A brief statement about the nature and timing of the pollution incident
• The party/parties responsible for any emergency response (for example, the Environmental Protection Authority)
• Any action required by the recipient(s) of the community notification
• Contact details for further information.

Note: if the pollution incident presents an immediate threat to human health or property then public notifications will be made by Emergency Services.

An initial notification may be followed by an update (to the original recipients, or a smaller or larger group as deemed relevant) in the event that Orica:

• Is instructed to do so by the authorities
• Determines that a new or different response is required by relevant authorities and other stakeholders in response to the pollution incident
• Decides to provide an update on the status of the investigation
   

Other interested stakeholders may also be notified, as appropriate for the nature/scale of the pollution incident—for example:

• The Community Reference Group, Kooragang Island—via email, phone or a meeting to discuss the incident.
• A notification may also be provided to the wider community by way of a media release and/or publishing of a media release.