Daly catchment toxic spill : Weather, Road Conditions & River Levels

Matt Flynn · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:09 pm Post subject: Daly catchment toxic spill

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/isol ... 6231185647

olfart · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:33 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Built to withstand once in a 100yr flood..PFFFT. :bs:

maybe they should aim at once ayear flood first. :uhh:

Agent86 · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

yep been some repairs almost every year so far!! Might take a while for these to be completed. Hopefully it won't interrupt too many people over chrissie- New Year and things can be organised.

Matt Flynn · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Very good point there olfart ... this looks more like a disaster scene from a Third World country than Australia ... http://www.news.com.au/news/not-again-c ... 6231297856

hairy17 · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Of major concern is the copper concentrate that has ended up in the Edith River. No doubt the greenies will be on to that one....

Its also hard to believe that a train would attempt crossing during such a weather event.

It's easy to criticise in hindsight, but to me its beyond belief, I mean you wouldnt try landing a plane during a tornado would you? Perhaps the driver did not know what lay ahead.

I remember the dramas they had when rail lines were washed out in central australia not so long ago, It took them a while to get back on track (pardon the pun).

2rods · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:18 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Mate from main roads tells me the locos are in the river .... And that the road will be shut fo 48-72hrs

The train drivers are in RDH one with bad back lacerations ... They didn't know the river was over the bridge I have been told!!!!

olfart · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:31 pm Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Would have been hookin along, poor buggers probably didn't see it till too late, just glad they got out alive, can't imagine anything more scary. some sort of early warning system is needed, so the operator has a chance to pull it up in time.

seano · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:35 am Post subject: copper sulphate spill

Havent heard any thing about enviromental impact. How much went into the water ? This will flow down towards the Daly ,will it effect fishing? . Will it dilute enough not to cause a disaster?

Rug · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:26 am Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Scary stuff. I hope the drivers recover well.

unseen1 · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:48 am Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

The trains were already delayed due to the Cyclone, and this train was the 2nd to come through that area, the first freight train arrived at 1:30am the same day as the incident.

So in the 4-5hours between the trains the river has risen alot for the train to come off. The first loco cleared the bridge but as mentioned Ash Wise is in hospital and Richard Smith is out now.

ETA for the fix is 3weeks, which also depends on water lvls and what not in the area.

At least our Iron Ore train can still run to pine creek.

Matt Flynn · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:57 am Post subject: Re: Cyclone Grant and the Ghan

Here's to the injured driver, hope he pulls through fast, a rotten Xmas for him, but it could have been far worse, imagine if it was the passenger train that went in.

Matt Flynn · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:01 am Post subject: Re: copper sulphate spill

I imagine the rate of dilution would be huge with all the floodwater.

That's the thing about heavy industry, no matter how carefully it's done, things happen ... maybe they have to plan for 1-in-500-year storms now.

cuddlescooper · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:32 am Post subject: Re: copper sulphate spill

We might get some very clean fish this year then.

With all that water running down it should dilute quick enough not to effect a big portion of the river hopefully.

Trier · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:28 pm Post subject: Re: copper sulphate spill

Trouble might be though that if there was/is a sudden, virtually simultaneous release of copper in a large quantity (say bulk carriages and/or bulker bags split open -I am not familiar with how it is transported)' then there may well be a concentrated 'toxic cloud' effect created.

Hopefully there will be more of a 'drip feed', and what I am suggesting is not happening!!

seano · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:36 pm Post subject: Re: copper sulphate spill

Each one of those Giacci tubs holds 15 tonnes of copper concentrate!

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