This is the view North from the top of the tower of Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle. The suburb of Stockton can be seen in the centre of this photo, across the Hunter River. It can be accessed by ferry from the city, or by a road which takes you across Kooragang Island and the soaring Stockton Bridge. Kooragang Island is known for its coal loaders and industry, as well as wetlands.
Stockton was originally known as "Pirates Point" after a group of convicts were wrecked there in 1800. Industrialists settled there, built residences and started ship building. By the 1880's it had a population of 1000. The Stockton Colliery was opened in 1889 and this again boosted the population. In 1971 the Stockton bridge was built allowing for less isolation and easier vehicular access.
As can be seen from the map, the industrial site on Kooragang (marked in grey) lies directly across a small expanse of water from the suburb of Stockton. Located on this site is the Orica mining explosives plant. On Monday 8th August, an incident at this plant resulted in the release of plumes of hexavalent chromium - 20 workers and 70 houses were exposed to the chemical for half an hour. It is a known carcinogen and its dangers were highlighted by Erin Brokovich in Hinkley, California when hexavalent chromium infiltrated the drinking water there. Residents in stockton were not told of the exposure to emissions from the Orica plant until three days after the event. Toxicologists and health authorities have stated however that the emissions pose as no major health risk to residents. Clean up crews have been busy in the affected Stockton areas over the past few days, but the residents remain concerned about the effects of the chromium cloud on their health. A class action over the incident is being considered by lawyers working for the environmental activist Erin Brokovich who was told of the incident over the weekend. She reportedly hopes to visit Stockton within the next two months.
This news story continues to unfold .....
View of Newcastle from Stockton
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