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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION: Maritime Constructions is cleaning up debris from the old jetty fire.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Maritime Constructions has started a clean-up of beaches and the shoreline surrounding Whyalla following last week’s fire on the old jetty.
Hot work by contractors, on the first day of demolition for the old jetty, sparked a fire in the reconstituted plastic planks. One worker had to exit into the water at the end of the jetty but there were no injuries reported.
While some molten plastic became inert and may have ended on the sea bed below the old jetty, some floated off and washed ashore in areas like Pt Lowly and False Bay over the weekend. City of Whyalla workers have been checking the main Whyalla swimming beach for any jetty debris.
Maritime Constructions has already started a clean-up of the affected beaches and shoreline around Whyalla and further up the coast with “about a wheelbarrow load” found so far. It is also organising for divers to pick up any plastic on the sea bed at the jetty site.
Council CEO Chris Cowley said the incident was unfortunate and had drawn a commitment from Maritime Constructions, the company demolishing the old jetty and building the new one, to do the clean-up. He thanked residents for informing Council of plastic from the jetty washing up further up the coast.
“Maritime Constructions reported the incident to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) immediately and had SafeWork SA officers on the site the very next day to assess the incident,” Mr Cowley said.
“Once a structural report on the remaining structure is finished, to ensure the site is safe, they will put divers in the water to clean up the immediate area around the jetty site.
“This morning they also started a clean-up of the plastic that ended up further up the coast.
“Maritime Constructions has expressed its regret after the incident and has assured the Whyalla community and visitors that it operates under the strictest safety conditions and the utmost concern for the environment.
“Any remnants from this fire will be cleaned up by Maritime Constructions as it demolishes our old jetty and builds the new one.
“We thank the community, some of whom have already done their bit to clean up some of the plastic, for bringing this to Council’s attention.
“While we can’t turn back the clock on this fire, we can ensure all the resultant debris is cleaned up as quickly as possible and the environment continues to be a vital consideration in all further work on the jetty project.”
Any enquiries on this project, or others, can be made by calling Council on 8640 3444 during office hours, by submitting a customer enquiry on our website http://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/page.aspx or via the free My Local Services app which can be downloaded at https://www.lga.sa.gov.au/mylocalservices