Mining company accused of turning blind eye to community concerns about iron ore contamination in Geraldton

Geraldton man Dean Parker is calling on the entire community to stand up and say “enough is enough” in the fight against mining companies contaminating the town and wharf with iron ore dust.

For the best part of six years, Geraldton locals have been banding together to complain about the dusty trains that leave dirty residue behind.

Mr Parker said with the situation worsening, it had reached a point where the Geraldton community needed to stand with them and make formal complaints about the damage being done to the city, its people and the infrastructure.

The owner of Horrie and Steve’s Marine, Mr Parker said the red and black iron ore contamination had plagued boats parked in the wharf, roads running alongside the railway, houses and cars in Beachlands, and even houses central to and north of town.

“For us here in the Mid West, we’re just sick of it. No one wants this iron ore on their clothes, their house and the roads because it’s ugly and it corrodes everything in its path,” he said.

“Boats in the wharf are corroding before our eyes and residents in Beachlands can’t even go outside to enjoy their backyard without having to wipe away the black. It’s black graphite, and it’s just black everywhere.”

Mr Parker, along with a group of other passionate and aggrieved residents, has been attending meetings at the wharf for years, consistently communicating with the Mid West Ports Authority.

The concerns and matters have also been presented to the City of Greater Geraldton on numerous occasions, which received confirmation the residue was a noticeable issue around town, Mr Parker said.

The two mining companies involved in the “big, dirty mess”, Fenix and Karara Mining Limited, have been made aware of the problem and concern from Geraldton.

Fenix is actively participating and interacting with the advocacy group and port to try and reduce the problem, while Karara had failed to acknowledge or solve the issue, Mr Parker said.

John Welborn, Fenix chairman, said the company and management team took community impacts “very seriously”.

Mr Welborn said the company covered their trucks coming into Geraldton and were actively working on other projects to further reduce the dust.

“We’re proactive, we want to continue hearing from the community and we understand this is a passionate issue and topic for the Geraldton community,” he said.

“We will continue to try and do as much as we can for Geraldton and its people because we will continue working for a very long time in and around the Mid West.”

Mr Parker claimed Karara, currently bringing in trains and open trailers of black iron ore, were “turning a blind eye and pretending they do not have a problem”.

“Karara are notably absent from the meetings. They’ve been asked to attend, and out of the last five years I think they have attended one of those,” he said.

“It’s just total arrogance on the behalf of their management. It’s total arrogance and denial of the situation.”

According to Karara, all trailers and trains of iron ore were sprayed with a binder which “effectively” kept the mineral from blowing away.

Mr Parker confirmed it was not effective and did not work — you just had to have a look around town to see.

Mr Parker said this was because the binder and spraying machine had not been intricately designed or implemented and was rather a rush job.

The binder was also designed to disintegrate, which it clearly always did before it arrived at the Geraldton port – an issue Arc Infrastructure needed to address with Karara.

On Friday, Mr Parker erected a sign on a scissor lift reading “Karara Mining Stop Vandalising Our Beautiful Mid West!!”

Mr Parker said this ongoing beast had many implications, with concerns for vegetation close to the railway slowly dying from being coated in black mineral.

“There’s health concerns, safety concerns and environmental vegetation concerns,” Mr Parker said.

“I want more residents of the Mid West and Geraldton to stand up and complain. I want the local and state government to stand up to these companies and say, ‘we’re not taking this’.”

A Mid West Ports Authority spokesperson said MWPA recognised community concerns regarding dust and air quality and had monitoring and management measures in place to manage environmental impacts at the port of Geraldton.

Karara Mining has been contacted for comment.