Monday, November 19, 2012

Desalination plant a noose around SA Labor government's neck?

Vanguard November 2012 p. 5
by Ned K.

A few years ago, during drought conditions in South Australia, the SA Rann Government was easily seduced by a multinational company and engineering companies who said that the security of water supply for South Australia was in the construction of a 50GL desalination plant at Port Stanvac south of Adelaide.
 
Rann was then further seduced in to agreeing to double the capacity of the plant to 100GL!

This project gave rise to many new activists who had concerns about the impact of the plant on marine life in the Gulf of St Vincent. Although small in number they continue to be a headache for the SA Government led by a more respected leader in Jay Weatherill.

Just 50 kilometres to the north of Adelaide is the Salisbury wetlands, and the local Council’s highly successful and world renowned stormwater recycling system. One of its architects and staunch critic of the desalination plant is Colin Pittman. He points out that the stormwater recycling system has the capacity to increase its holding capacity from the current 10GL to 50GL, the capacity of the originally planned desalination plant. And the cost? One tenth of the cost of the construction of the desalination plant!

Again, here is an example of this profit-driven system where governments are controlled and influenced by the minority rich corporations providing a disastrous and costly outcome to the ordinary people.

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