Australia - Angry mums battle Alcoa trial at Anglesea

Angry mums battle Alcoa trial at Anglesea
Yasmin Paton | August 3rd, 2010
ANGRY parents have vowed to remove their children from Anglesea Primary School if a controversial trial at the nearby Alcoa power station goes ahead.
More than 100 parents and residents packed an Alcoa-run meeting last night to discuss the mining giant's plan to trial a by-product called HiCal 40 carbon fuel.
The project is on hold after a data error was discovered by Alcoa, meaning the trial was not in line with Environment Protection Authority guidelines.
"There was a conversion error in the spreadsheet which changed the outcome," power station manager Stephanie Pearce said.
"We continue a review into a range of technical and environmental, health and safety aspects of the project."
The trial will increase the amount of fluoride in the air, causing safety fears for students at the new primary school being built 800m away from the power station.
Mother-of-six Kareen Umphrey said she would not let her children be exposed to fluoride emissions. "I will take my children out of the school," she said.
Fellow resident and mother-of-two Angela Allardyce agreed.
"If the trial goes ahead, we will definitely be looking at alternative schools," she said."They know so little about the product, how can it be safe?"
In Portland, kangaroos grazing near the Alcoa smelter developed bone deformities after ingesting fluoride emissions.
Alcoa and the EPA maintain the fluoride level in Anglesea will be 10 times lower than in Portland but this promise did not settle the anger among residents at last night's meeting, which was also attended by Corangamite candidates Sarah Henderson and Darren Cheeseman.