Living With A " Bomb " !

Six years ago a ship called at the Lebanese port of Beirut and was found to be carrying an illegal cargo of ammonium  nitrate.  It was seized by the authorities, unloaded and stored in a warehouse where it has remained awaiting a disposal decision by the Lebanese government.

Ammonium Nitrate serves as an important substance for agriculture when it is used as a fertilizer, but it can also be used to manufacture explosives.  It is often the substance of terrorist bombs and the addition of diesel fuel makes a deadly combination.  The quantity stored on the Beirut waterfront was over 2,700 tonnes and this week that mysteriously exploded.

The size of that explosion was catastrophic and can be compared to the devastation that would be caused by an atomic bomb, except for the radiation.  It tore the heart out of the city and the shock wave wrecked buildings in a wide circle.  In the immediate aftermath at least a hundred people are dead and that number will certainly increase as the wreckage is searched. Hospitals and medical centres are battling to cope with the thousands injured.

Lebanon is a country on the fringe of a war zone. Its depressed economy has not been helped by political uncertainty and the ravages of the coronavirus and this contributed to such a huge quantity of a dangerous substance being virtually abandoned on the waterfront and left unchecked for years.  We may never know what caused this explosion, but that country's main port is completely destroyed and this will put both commerce and the food supply at risk.

The timing is awful.   The world economy has taken a hit from the coronavirus lockdown and that will decrease the ability of many nations to offer recovery help.  Thousands have lost their homes and it is probable that many of the buildings still standing will need to be demolished.  Many of the residents of Beirut will be living in the streets well into the future.

This catastrophe will have thoughts of the dangers posed within cities brought to mind here.  Sydney is the jewel in the Pacific tourist destination crown and dangerous commerce has been  stripped away to other places, and Wollongong further down the coast has become the alternative destination.  What are termed " dirty industries " have been relocated to Port Kembla and that port is embedded deeply in the city of Wollongong.  It now contains the coal loader and the grain loader and the escape of dust from grain can be a powerful explosive if the conditions suit.

Port Kembla is a scene of building activity as the terminal for liquid gas imports is nearing completion.  It is envisaged that Port Kenbla will be the main entry point for gas from either our north west shelf in Western Australia or imports from Europe or North America.  The terminal will have the capacity to receive the specially built ships that contain hundreds of thousands of metres of volatile liquid natural gas that will be pumped into holding facilities and on to pipelines connected to state industry.

We are assured that high safety standards will apply, but Port Kembla is surrounded by densely populated suburbs containing the homes of Wollongong residents and the now high rise city centre is adjacent to the port.  With what happened in Beirut in mind,  it must be remembered that natural gas is an explosive substance and should a ship explode the outcome to Beirut would be similar here.

It is simply a trade off.  The acquisition of dangerous trades brings well paying jobs and an elevated standard of living.  Wollongong was known as the " steel city " because it was home to a massive steel works, but now it is becoming the access port for New South Wales.    Just so long as we remember that does come with dangers !