Power station successfully demolished

Alcoa’s power station in Anglesea has come crashing down at last, with Alcoa successfully carrying out the demolition earlier this afternoon.

However, the demolition, which took place at 1.15pm and caused a large dust cloud, has sparked strong criticism from local lobby group Surf Coast Air Action (SCAA) over the choice to use controlled explosives to collapse the structure both today and in the first unsuccessful attempt on May 30.

Alcoa site manager Warren Sharp said the demolition was completed according to plan while the wind was blowing away from the Anglesea township, in a south-south-west direction.

“Now that the structure has been demolished, it is expected to take up to six months to process and remove the mainly steel materials from the site.

“The removal process will be undertaken in accordance with Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act requirements to ensure the safety of all on-site personnel and the community.”

As a condition of EPA Victoria’s approval of the demolition, Alcoa must conduct dust monitoring south of the power station in the residential area and release the results on the same day of the implosion, and abestos monitoring must also be undertaken at locations around the perimeter of the exclusion zone.

In a statement issued this afternoon, Alcoa said air monitoring results “will be made publicly available as soon as practicable”.

Alcoa’s preparations included a “comprehensive 12-month asbestos removal program” but this has not satisfied SCAA, which stated a “traditional and safer mechanical demolition” would have been better.

“While significant volumes of asbestos had been removed from the defunct coal plant and buried in a huge landfill nearby, the CFMEU confirmed as late as yesterday (Tuesday) that not all asbestos had been removed and coal dust and coal combustion residues also remained in the structure.”

SCAA spokesperson Regina Gleeson said the group’s primary concern was air quality.

“Asbestos is an insidious fibre which shouldn’t be blasted into the local environment. Its carcinogenic consequences should have precluded any decision to proceed to blast the plant.”

Alcoa has previously said explosives were its preferred option as the structure was too heavy to pull over, and cutting it apart from the top down would involve too many risks to the workers involved.