Public health
Sustainability website / Health / Public health
We identify significant public health risks in each of the locations in which we operate and implement systems to assess the potential or actual impact on Xstrata’s employees, contractors and communities associated with the operation. The major public health issues facing Xstrata’s operations are from HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Lead in the community also poses a potential risk and is an issue of community and stakeholder concern.
Lead
Lead in the community is a particular issue for Xstrata’s Mount Isa Mines operations. The mining and smelting operations are situated in close proximity to the town and have been in operation since the 1920s, when historic practices contributed to contamination of some areas. There is also a high level of naturally-occurring lead mineralisation in the district. A comprehensive remediation programme was initiated in the 1990s to address historically contaminated sites and, in 2007, Mount Isa Mines commissioned an independent land, air and water emissions study. The ‘Whole of Emissions Study’ has been conducted by recognised toxicologist Associate Professor Barry Noller, through the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland and consists of three stages: land, air and water. The purpose of Phase 1 (land) was to assess the effectiveness of remedial works completed by MIM Holdings in cooperation with the Mount Isa City Council and the Queensland Government CHEMUnit in the 1990s.
In 2007, Xstrata Mount Isa Mines released a public Community Briefing Paper titled Whole of Emissions Study Phase 1 – Emissions to Land; Study of Lead in the Leichhardt River and Surrounding Locations outlining the results of the sampling, available from the Xstrata website. The initial findings indicate that no sample sites in areas of public activity represent a potential risk to human health. However, a small number of sample sites in areas of low public activity could be considered to be a potential risk to human health, requiring further investigation. The Leichhardt River Remediation Project was launched in March 2007 and the sampling stage was completed by the end of the year. Stage 2 involves the removal of contaminated material from the river and will commence following the rainy season in mid 2008.
Mount Isa Mines continues to offer free blood lead testing for all community residents.
In December 2007, Queensland Health completed its 15-month study of the lead in blood levels of 400 Mount Isa children, aged between one and four years, representing one-quarter of the children of this age group in the local community. Queensland Health expects to publish the full study report in May 2008. Initial findings suggest 11% of children tested had blood lead levels in excess of World Health Organisation recommended levels (10µg/dl). Xstrata Mount Isa Mines continues to work with Queensland Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, Mount Isa City Council and the State government on community health initiatives including managing lead through the recently formed ‘Living with Lead Alliance’, chaired by Betty Kiernan, State Member for Mount Isa.