Smeltering questions

Opinion
Sunday, June 14th 2009
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=161490672

It is difficult if not impossible to determine the exact status of the Alutrint smelter development. Many opponents put it in the same uncertain state as the Mittal steel plant at Claxton Bay. On the other hand the message coming from the company is that it is going ahead as planned and the Government's position is that it will be the only shareholder but that the project will be funded by the Chinese Government.

But there continue to be several rather important questions that demand firm and unambiguous answers. The first that must be answered is simply this-if aluminium smelting is as environmentally safe as is claimed by the Minister of the Environment why is it necessary to have any health-monitoring scheme?

In attempting to soften the "cancer testing" concern, the Minister blithely states the "monitoring includes personal and family histories for allergies, asthma, liver conditions, skin conditions, and cardiovascular issues, clinical chemical analysis, pulmonary function tests, urine for fluoride, vital signs and history of bronchitis".

But if we follow the Minister's logic we should really have a comparable national health-monitoring scheme wherever there is significant industrial activity and, importantly, wherever there are densely populated areas near such activities and transportation routes. Moreover, screening continues to be uncertain for many cancers and it will be cold comfort to anyone near the smelter to be diagnosed with a cancer after it begins operating.

There is yet another troubling question. If the purpose of the smelter is to feed proposed downstream industries should not the country have gone the direct route to such industries and accessed the raw ingots on the international market? It would have cost far less and would have greatly reduced the carbon dioxide produced from the electricity generation and the actual smelting, thereby stretching out our gas resources.

How many people noted the platitudes of the official releases for World Environment Day just days ago? The talk of air quality legislation, alternative energy, reforestation and carbon neutrality, coming from a country that releases over 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year?

As has been drawn to our attention, one of the largest consumers of aluminium after the United States and China-both with smelter and downstream industries-is Japan which consumes over two million tonnes of ingots each year in its downstream industries; but Japan is a country that does not have any significant aluminium smelting industry. Did Trinidad and Tobago at any time consider this route? And, importantly, has the spent pot liner problem been solved? Answers, Madame Minister, not more platitudes.