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Simon Corbell has announced a review of the Government responses to the Mitchell PCB fire have come up looking good:
An independent review of the ACT Government’s testing and analysis of a fire, which destroyed a business in Mitchell found that the government response was generally well managed, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell, said today.
The government engaged the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology at the University of Queensland to assess the environmental testing and analysis during and following the fire at Energy Services Invironmental (ESI) in September 2011 and today released the findings of the review.
The review found that the ACT emergency, environment and health authorities acted quickly, responsibly and carefully to protect the health of the community and the environment during and after the fire.
Observations were made in relation to protocols and procedures for sampling and monitoring of the airborne toxins, and the media and public information made available during and immediately after the incident.
“It is important to review our response and continue to make improvements to our processes and procedures for any future incidents,” Mr Corbell said.
“Expert advice from ACT Health is that the risk to human health was very low, emphasising that the precautionary approach taken by the emergency authorities served to minimise any public health risk.
[photo by John Lafferty]