[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_More Sleeper Stealing Exposed_T Morris MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

MORE SLEEPER STEALING EXPOSED

Poisonous Sleepers on Roadside at Tunbridge and Antill Ponds
 
Tim Morris MP
Greens Shadow Infrastructure Spokesperson

Sunday, 5 October 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today revealed that more piles of discarded
creosote-impregnated railway sleepers have been dumped in
publicly-accessible piles at the northern entrance to Tunbridge, and at
Antill Ponds, and it is clear that members of the public have been
removing some of these sleepers unaware of the potential dangers to
themselves and their properties. 

Greens Shadow Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that the
Government, as the owner of all scrap resulting from maintenance and
capital works on the railway, is acting negligently in relation to the
safe storage of poisonous sleepers that are being progressively removed
from the railway line and replaced with steel sleepers. They are
allowing workers to dump them in ad-hoc piles where they are readily
accessible by the public many of whom mistakenly think that these toxic
sleepers can be salvaged for landscaping or other uses. 

"A drive up the Midland Highway to Ross on Saturday (4/10/08) revealed
two more readily accessible piles of used sleepers dumped just off the
Highway at Tunbridge and Antill Ponds, and it is patently obvious that
sleepers are being removed from these piles, and that no attempt has
been made to prevent the progressive removal of the sleepers or to warn
of the dangers associated with creosote-impregnation," said Mr Morris.

"The pile at the northern entrance to Tunbridge is right beside the road
and has been placed there in recent months. The larger pile at Antill
Ponds has been there for at least a year and once contained thousands of
used sleepers - members of the public have been helping themselves to
these sleepers for some time, without any warning of the dangers
involved, and no attempt has been made to secure this area or sign it as
railway land, if indeed it is."

"I do not accept the Infrastructure Minister's recent excuse that used
sleepers are left unfenced because the safety fences were being stolen -
the government seems to have had no trouble putting safety fencing
around the new sleepers and rails stockpiled in various locations around
the state, and these fences appear to remain intact. In fact, despite
the Minister's claim last week that the Department of Infrastructure is
now working on the safe disposal of these sleepers, I am also aware that
it has been a long tradition to dump them in ad-hoc piles and locations,
and that no attempts have been made at safe disposal."  

"It is time for the Environment Protection Authority and Workplace
Safety Tasmania to investigate the current situation and issue the
necessary orders to ensure that the public are protected from the
ongoing practice of dumping poisonous sleepers in a manner that appears
to invite self service," concluded Mr Morris.  




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