Shame on you!

Blame is a senseless action. You are the master of your own destiny, you can achieve whatever you desire and the only force that stands in your way is your own fear. So utilise your power to decide and do it!

Yesterday I heard a radio news report regarding contamination of the underground water in the area near where I work. I missed the evening news so was completely surprised to get up this morning and realise that the company I work for is on the front page of the newspaper and is named as the company responsible for this contamination.

In 2009 the land that the manufacturing part of our company sits on was sold to a developer to allow for an extension to the local shopping complex. All of the buildings were demolished and a reasonable amount of excavation and clearing work was carried out by the developer. The corporate office still sits on a part of this land and is fenced off from the excavation work. A move to a newly built office is scheduled for August this year, at which time the remaining buildings will be demolished by the developer.

At this stage I will not comment on our company's involvement in this situation because I have no knowledge of the facts of what has occurred or who is responsible. I say let's stop the finger pointing and find the quickest and safest way to fix the problem.

What I am horrified by is that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have known about the contamination since August 2009 when demolition began and they have not seen fit to warn homeowners in the area until yesterday.

Don't homeowners have a right to know? Surely something could have been done back then to limit any damage, rather than letting it sit for almost 2 years and allowing further excavation work to be carried out. There are 30 known active underground bores in this area, which provide water to residential homes and are used for vegetable gardens. Water that is now potentially contaminated.

I can understand the EPA not wanting to cause a panic, but I am actively against bureacracy which limits information being provided to those homeowners potentially affected. There are also a number of allegations being made against the EPA saying they have deliberately released the information on the second day of a massive news week, following the huge earthquake in New Zealand, in an attempt to minimise the furor which will erupt over this.

I strongly believe that knowledge is power. Everyone deserves the right to be informed of things that affect them and their families in a timely fashion, not almost two years after the problem is discovered. This includes our company which as far as I know, had no knowledge of the problem until the information was released yesterday.

Environmental Protection Authority - Shame on you!

Please note: The opinions contained in this post are purely my own thoughts and have no relation to the company I work for. Any factual mistakes are mine and mine alone.