Wrong date given for fluoride overdose in water
stevem
in "Don't you worry about that", Fluoridated water , Freedom of Information, Recycling
|
Post a Comment
Patrick Lion and Peter Michael
May 16, 2009
THE Bligh Government’s handling of the fluoride overdose was in disarray last night after it admitted it got the date wrong about when the bungle occurred.
The Government has admitted residents should have been told they may have drunk water with 20 times the allowable amount of fluoride on May 2 - not May 1 as Premier Anna Bligh said on Thursday.
The blunder is a major embarrassment for the Government, already defending the two-week delay in testing that preceeded this week’s health notification to residents on Brisbane’s northside.
The Premier was unavailable last night but SEQ Water Grid Manager director Nicole Davis confirmed the water entered supplies in the Brendale and Warner areas on May 2 for three hours between 9am and midday.
It means the water flowed on the Saturday morning putting many more residents at risk.
”We were trying to get the information out there to assure people,” Ms Davis said. ”The initial advice was it was May 1 but LinkWater went back today looking at their data and discovered the error that it was, in fact, May 2.
”I do apologise on behalf of the (SEQ Water Grid) Manager that there has been confusion for the community.”
The error is set to inflame tensions further. As angry residents yesterday claimed the overdose made them sick and killed their pets, it emerged they may be unable to sue for compensation.
The Government has specifically legislated to stop lawsuits relating to fluoride.
While Ms Bligh had earlier refused to speculate on compensation for the 4000 homes exposed to the water, lawyers believe Section 94 of the Water Fluoridation Act ruled out civil suits from the public.
”A person does not have any civil right or remedy against a public potable water supplier in relation to the fluoridation of a public potable water supply under this Act,” the law reads.
The water contained 30 to 31mg/L of fluoride instead of the maximum allowable 1.5mg/L.
The Government had received no complaints yesterday but The Courier-Mail has received several reports of symptoms similar to gastroenteritis.
Warner mother-of-two Caroline Rossiter said her family, including the dog and cat, had been ill for two weeks.
“I was for fluoride but now I am very concerned,” she said. “I have headaches, chest pain, shortness of breath, gastro. We still haven’t been contacted about it.”
Robert Gow, a Bunya resident near Warner, said 10 of his budgerigars died and his cockatiel was sick. His daughter Renee lives at Warner and her budgerigar also died.
“All the birds basically got the runs with lots of watery discharge in the cage and they were dehydrated,” Mr Gow said. “There is a pretty fair chance of a connection as we are all connected to the North Pine Dam.”
But Ms Bligh said there was “almost a zero chance” of any health risk.
“We have been able to identify residents who have been affected and they will be provided with a written document today,” she said.
Speaking in Townsville, “the only city in Queensland that has had fluoridated water for decades”, she said the city was proof of the benefits of fluoridation.
“The dental health of children here is significantly better than any other part of the state,” she said.
Brisbane Veterinary Service manager Tabatha Whitehead said the northside facility had not received any cases and were unsure what affect fluoride had on animals.
“It is difficult to know if this could contribute to any illness in any household pet,” she said.
stevem
Fluoride overdose a triple failure
Natasha Bita
May 16, 2009
UP to three safeguard systems failed at the Brisbane water-treatment plant that released drinking water to residents with fluoride levels that were 20 times the legal limit.
The revelation came as the Queensland Government yesterday sent apology letters to the 4000 people in northern Brisbane whose water was dosed with 30 milligrams of fluoride per litre, rather than the 1.5mg/litre maximum, for three hours on May 2.
A member of the Queensland Government’s Fluoridation Committee, toxicology expert Michael Moore, yesterday called for a review of fluoridation engineering to prevent a repeat bungle.
Mike Foster, a spokesman for Queensland government water authority Seqwater, yesterday admitted that up to three safeguard systems at the North Pine treatment plant had malfunctioned, allowing the fluoride overdose to occur.
The plant had been shut down for maintenance between April 27 and 30, but the dosing machinery continued to pour fluoride into the system.
When the plant came back online, a concentrated amount of fluoride flowed into the system and was not detected until another water company tested water in the pipeline, a process that took two weeks.
The Queensland Health Department’s code of practice for water fluoridation warns of the need for back-up systems to prevent accidental overdoses. It specifically warns of the potential to overdose if the water supply is cut off but the fluoride continues to dose, as happened last month.
“All key components should be alarmed to alert the operator of a failure of the system,” it says.
The fluoride overdose marks the second water crisis in six months to hit the Bligh Government, after it was forced to back down late last year on plans to add recycled effluent to southeast Queensland dams. The plan was deferred in the face of community and expert concerns about the safety of recycled water, but treated effluent will be added to dams when their levels fall to 40 per cent.
The overdose comes barely four months after Queensland became the last state or territory to introduce fluoride into drinking water.
Professor Moore, the chairman of Water Policy Research Australia, yesterday called for the safety aspects of fluoridation engineering to be re-examined.
“I’m a very firm believer in the benefits associated with fluoridation and this is the worst thing that could have happened,” he said.
Professor Moore said the overdose was unlikely to have caused toxic effects.
Seqwater yesterday wrote to “sincerely apologise” to all affected residents in the suburbs of Warner and Brendale.
“It should not have happened and we are committed to ensuring it does not happen again,” said the letter, co-signed by Seqwater chief executive Peter Borrows and Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young.
It says Queensland Health is confident the health hazards are “remote”.
Fluoride overdoses can cause mottled teeth at concentrations above 1.5mg/litre and bone damage known as skeletal fluorosis at levels exceeding 4mg/litre, according to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
“Fluoride is absorbed quickly following ingestion,” the guidelines state. “It is not metabolised, but diffuses passively into all body compartments.”
stevem
Fluoride supplier has ‘get out’ clause
May 15, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
LAWS introducing fluoride to Queensland’s water supply contained a clause banning legal action for compensation if problems should arise.
Lawyer Mark O’Connor, of Bennett and Philp Lawyers, revealed the clause while demanding that the Queensland Government should pay for medical tests for Brisbane residents affected by the fluoride bungle.
Premier Anna Bligh yesterday revealed 300,000 litres of contaminated water was pumped to up to 4000 northern Brisbane homes for three hours on May 1 after a malfunction delivered 20 times the allowable limit of fluoride into the water supply.
The fault was uncovered during routine tests 12 days later.
Mr O’Connor said despite the Premier and Queensland Health reassuring the public the risk of illness was extremely remote, the Government should offer to pay for any medical tests householders might wish to take.
“People are expected to put their trust in the Government and when the Government fails them, it has a duty to put things right,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Paying for any medical tests is the least it could do.”
Affected residents are to receive a letter of apology from the Government spelling out what happened.
stevem
Bligh puts house on the line for fluoride
Andrew Wight
February 12, 2009
Anna Bligh has signed a personal guarantee that could cost the Premier her personal assets in a court batttle if people become sick from water flouridation, a Brisbane lawyer said.
This week, Ms Bligh confirmed she had signed a legal document in which she accepts full personal liability for flouridation and promises to provide financial compensation in the event that it causes adverse health affects.
Flouride was introduced into the state’s water supply in December. At the time, Health Minister Stephen Robertson was presented with two petitions totalling 6000 signatures against the move, which will see a final fluoride concentration of 0.6 parts per million.
The document, which Ms Bligh signed on October 15 at a community meeting, was first published in the Hinterland Voice independent newspaper.
“The Premier signed the document as a demonstration of her comittment to fluoridation,” the Premier’s spokeswoman said.
“She did not make this decision lightly and stands by it.”
But the promise could provide a loophole for anti-flouridation activists to take legal action over the roll-out of fluoride.
Mark O’Connor, a compensation specialist and partner at Brisbane law firm Bennett & Philp, said state laws prevent residents from taking any action against water authorities.
However, he said the Premier’s pledge means she could be liable as a private citizen, although it would be difficult to establish a case against her.
“You’d have to provide medical evidence the condition has been caused by consumption of fluoridated water and not another factor,” Mr O’Connor explained.
He said anyone bringing a case against Ms Bligh would have to show they had changed their behaviour on the basis of the promise.
“It’s an unsual case. I’ve never seen this done before,” he said.
“It would appear she is giving a personal guarantee, rather than a guarantee on behalf of the Government.
“Any claim would therefore be against Ms Bligh’s own assets.
“I doubt she would put her assets at risk, unless she was sure that fluoride wouldn’t cause disease.”
At an anti-fluoridation rally on Tuesday, Queenslanders Against Water Fluoridation spokeswoman Jeanie Ryan said the group was still calling on Ms Bligh to end fluoridation because of its health effects.
An article published in the respected medical journal Lancet said fluoride can cause neurotoxicity in laboratory animals, but hasn’t yet been proven to be toxic to humans.
Studies in rural communities in China have found high fluoride concentrations in well water may cause skeletal abnormalities and affect intelligence.
Australian Dental Association Queensland branch president, Rockhampton dentist Greg Moore, said there could be a 20-40 per cent reduction in tooth decay as a result of fluoridated water.
The pledge from Anna Bligh as it appeared in the February edition of the Sunshine Coast based Hinterland Voice newspaper.
View Printer Friendly Version
Reader Comments