Hannah Hammoud
Members of the Stop AkzoNobel Community Action Group (SANPAG) said the decision to close the resin plant in Sunshine North will help ease their ‘suffering’.
AkzoNobel announced that it has made the ‘difficult’ decision to permanently close the resin plant operations at the Sunshine North facility.
The company said the resin plant will cease operating within the next nine months, and there will be some impacts on jobs at the Sunshine North site.
“Unfortunately, rising input and operating costs, along with necessary investments and maintenance, have meant the plant cannot compete long term in the global resin market,” a spokesperson for AkzoNobel Australia said.
“… Paint and powder manufacturing at the site will continue as normal and we will continue to be a positive contributor to the Sunshine North community.”
Founding member of SANPAG, Sarah Haar said local residents were pleased with the announcement that the site will close.
“While we understand that there have been some challenges at the site, and AkzoNobel has tried to implement a number of different procedures and upgrade equipment – the reality is, we are still suffering from the effect of the air pollution from the resin plant,” she said.
“Fumes arising from the resin plant were incredibly strong, paint-like smells that would cause your eyes to water, cause you to have a sore throat … at times you could taste it.
“The odour causes a loss of appetite, brings on migraines, exacerbates asthma symptoms, causes dizziness along with many other symptoms.
“We are living in a country like Australia, and in an inner metro suburb where people have lived for many, many decades. It is not an industrialised suburb and it is totally unacceptable to be exposed to these fumes day in, day out.”
Ms Haar said that whilst AkzoNobel had been consulting with the community for years, and taken steps in the right direction, the community would like to see more positive progress from the company with regard to air and noise pollution.
Brimbank councillor Virginia Tachos said the advocacy of the SANPAG group had helped hold the company to account.
“The impact of these polluters not just on physical health but also on mental health cannot be minimised. Your voice, your rights to clean air, matter,” she said.
“We’re sending a strong message to all these dirty industries that we don’t want them in the west.”
