Where?
On the site of the Sunshine Coast Quarries operation on the eastern side of the Kenilworth Bluff at Moy Pocket near Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

How much explosive material would it store?
Initially, the bulk store would house 40 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, 38 tonnes of ammonium nitrate emulsifier (70% ammonium nitrate) as well as 10 tonnes of “high explosive”.

Is that a lot?
If you look at ammonium nitrate incidents in the past, the potential for a serious incident is high. 3-5 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in a farm warehouse in France in 2003, resulting in 26 casualties. A truck carrying 2 tonnes of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded in Queensland in 1974, killing 3. Back in France in 2001, 40-80 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded at a fertiliser works, killing 30 and injuring 2242. These are just a handful of examples from a long list of tragic incidents around the world.

How much dangerous traffic would that generate on Sunshine Coast roads?
Two 26-tonne trucks carrying explosives would access the site each week in the initial stages, with a mobile manufacturing unit leaving and returning to the storage each day. A spokesperson for the application said “The number of movements, both in and out of the site, would increase as the economy grew.” The application is vague on how explosives would leave the site for distribution around south-east Queensland. Drivers who already share the Moy Pocket and Kenilworth-Eumundi roads with the numerous heavy trucks travelling to and from the quarry should be very concerned. The addition of trucks carrying large quantities of explosive both into and out of the bulk store adds a whole dimension to safety on the road.

Who will be affected?
This doesn’t just affect adjoining landholders. It has implications and dangers over a much wider area. What we’re all being asked to do is to live with an elevated risk so that a big company can improve its competitive edge in the explosives market.

Is it safe?
Placing at least 80 tonnes of explosive in a rural setting, and regular truckloads of it on the roads is both a traffic and a terrorism risk. Additional risks to the storage facility include bushfires, lightening strikes, and ground instability. The application goes to some length to show it’s not an earthquake prone area, but seems to ignore the fact that it’s located right on the site of regular and substantial blasting as part of ongoing quarry operations.

Who will operate the facility?
Good question! We're not sure. The applicant for the proposed facility is Orica Ltd (an explosives manufacturing company). It seems that the facility would be located on land owned and currently mined by Sunshine Coast Quarries at Moy Pocket. A quarry spokeperson has stated that they know nothing about the proposal, are not involved and that they sold some of their land for the facility, yet Gympie Regional Council appear not to have records of any land changing hands. The application states that security for the explosives facility would be provided by the existing quarry site security measures, but does not provide details on what this entails. Given that ammonium nitrate carries a risk of terrorism, this does not seem adequate.

Who decides on the proposal?
Gympie Regional Council will decide after the public objection period closes on August 27, 2010. All written objections need to reach council before this date. In your written objection, provide your name and address, refer to Development Application Number DA 2009 0748, and address it to The Assessment Manager, PO Box 155, Gympie 4570.