BHP Desalination Plant: A Threat of Olympic Proportions

The Wilderness Society (South Australia) Inc
Media Release
7 August 2009

One of the world's most spectacular natural phenomena is at risk of being destroyed, with BHP Billiton planning to build a desalination plant at Point Lowly in South Australia's Upper Spencer Gulf.

The purpose of the Point Lowly desalination plant is to secure a water supply for the expansion of BHP Billiton's operations at Olympic Dam in northern SA.

Every year from May to September, hundreds of thousands of Giant Australian Cuttlefish converge on this rocky coast just north of Whyalla, putting on a bizarre but beautiful mating display which can't be seen anywhere else in the world.  

These amazing creatures, able to change both the colour and texture of their skin, only live for 1-2 years, mating once and then dying soon after. Research has shown that cuttlefish eggs are extremely sensitive to changes in salinity. A single bad reproductive year could devastate the population, putting the species at risk of extinction.

BHP Billiton plans to discharge up to 370 million litres of hyper-saline 'return water' (a mixture of concentrated seawater and anti-scalant) back into the ocean here every day.

“It would be hard to find a worse location for a desalination plant.  Upper Spencer Gulf is a low-flushing environment.  Waters here are already much warmer and more saline than in the open ocean.  The risks involved are much too great” said Shen Dycer, Marine Campaigner for The Wilderness Society SA.

“Independent scientists are deeply concerned the toxic brine discharge will not properly disperse, causing irreparable damage to this globally significant but fragile ecosystem.  Cuttlefish are not the only worry.  Upper Spencer Gulf is a critical nursery habitat for many commercially important fish and crustaceans”.

“The State Government should be encouraging sustainable development not putting one of our greatest eco-tourism experiences at risk. The cuttlefish breeding grounds are an obvious choice for a marine park sanctuary zone” she added.

With public submissions on the Olympic Dam Expansion EIS closing today, a large group of protestors descended upon the steps of Parliament House to demand that the South Australian Government listen to and act upon their concerns about the many flaws in BHP Billiton’s expansion plans.