The owner of Sandgate-based trucking company Crawfords Freightlines has called for increased awareness about the storage and transportation of ammonium nitrate in Australia.
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The company presently stores 9000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at the site. It is appealing SafeWork NSW's rejection of an application to reinstate its previous licence to store 13,500 tonnes of the material.
Crawfords and Orica's Kooragang Island plant have come under intense scrutiny following an ammonium nitrate blast in Beirut in August that killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4000.
Crawfords owner Peter Crawford said the level of community concern about the product's safety following the Beirut blast was unwarranted.
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"The way it is handled in Australia is so different to how it is handled overseas," he said.
"All of the places where there has been an issue you find it was badly handled and badly managed. Beirut was the perfect scenario for a disaster; they did everything wrong."
Ammonium nitrate has been stored at the Sandgate site for the 25 years, well before Crawfords took over in 2008.
The company's initial licence allowed it to store 13,500 tonnes, however, a state government audit following the August 2011 leak of hexavalent chromium from Orica's Kooragang Island factory resulted in the limit being wound back.
"We were storing in accordance with SafeWork NSW requirements, however, the audit revealed the site did not have a development application to store chemicals with Newcastle Council. That has since been rectified," Mr Crawford said.
He described the company's storage facilities as "among the best in the world."
"We handle it properly, our compliances are in place, our systems and procedures are there, everything so we can handle it safely for the community," Mr Crawford said.
"We are the only storage facility in Australia that has a $1million sprinkler system installed. I have had people visit here from around the world.
"They ask why we go to the lengths we do and I explain it is a precaution."
A document obtained by the Newcastle Herald regarding the storage of ammonium nitrate in Newcastle produced by the office of the Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson says there is no need for community consultation under the state's Work, Health and Safety or explosives laws when a company seeks to amend its explosives licence.
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However, the Guide for Major Hazard Facilities: providing information to the community states that hazard information about each site should be kept at the local public library or council.
Correct Planning for Mayfield spokesman John L Hayes said he had been unable to locate information about the Crawfords site.
"Within the last three months I made an inquiry of the Mayfield Library and I was referred to the regional library. I was told that the regional library would know where this document would be. I was able to look at the Orica document but I was told they were not holding a document in respect to Crawfords," he said.
Mr Crawford said he was unaware of the requirement.
"It is honestly the first I have heard of it but I am happy to look into it," he said.
Mr Hayes said he believed community concern about the ammonium nitrate near residential areas was justified.
"From my experience sitting on a number of community panels I can tell you people are genuinely concerned about it," he said.
"One bloke recently said to me 'I don't live near it but I have a daughter who does and it worries me'."
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