Emergency response
The EPA responds to emergency incidents (Figure 5).
Emergency responses are of three types:
- Whole-of-government procedure as outlined in the State Emergency Management Plan. This applies to spills or leaks of hazardous substances onto land or into non-marine waters, and is coordinated by emergency services (police, fire and technical advice coordinators).
- National response plan, which deals with oil or chemical spills at sea, and is coordinated by the Marine Group of DPTI.
- Other environmental incidents that do not trigger either of the above emergency response systems. This includes incidents reported by EPA licence-holders and some incidents reported by members of the public through the pollution reporting line, which requires an immediate assessment by the EPA.
Figure 5—Number of emergency incidents by category
Re-branded and new emergency response teams
In September 2013, the EPA rebranded its environmental Emergency Response Team (ERT) with a dedicated emergency response vehicle painted in high visibility colours to help identify response staff.
In January 2014, a dedicated Radiation Protection Emergency Response Team (ERT), with its own identifiable field wear and vehicle, was introduced.
The Radiation Protection ERT will respond to any radiation incidents including those as part of the State Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART) responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear events, and be available to give advice as required.
The approach of both ERTs was aligned to provide consistent attendance, safety, incident management and reporting at emergency incidents and advice around the clock. This will enable the EPA to deliver a more robust and professional service to industry and the community when dealing with incidents.
Major environmental incidents
During 2013–14, the EPA responded to 97 incidents through its emergency pollution incident response system. The majority of calls came from members of the public and EPA licence-holders, and were dealt with by the provision of advice relating to containment and clean up. Examples include:
- monitoring smoke from fires in stockpiles at the Adelaide Resource Recovery facility at Wingfield
- flooding of a basement at St Andrew Hospital
- loss of 16 000 litres of wine to stormwater from a tanker that rolled over on Tapleys Hill Road, Glenelg North.
Radiation incidents and accidents
The Regulations under the RPC Act require radiation accidents to be reported promptly to the EPA by employers of radiation workers, owners of Xray apparatus or sealed radioactive sources, and occupiers of premises where unsealed radioactive substances are used or handled. Radiation accidents include situations where the control of a radiation source has been lost or a person has received or may have received an accidental exposure to ionising radiation. The EPA investigates radiation accidents and incidents to determine the cause and remedial action that could be taken to prevent a recurrence.
During 2013–14, the EPA received 22 reports of radiation incidents involving medical practices, industrial radiation sources, a cyclotron facility and incidents occurring at mining operations. None of these are known to have resulted in an adverse health outcome. Appropriate steps have been taken at medical departments and practices to reduce the risk of a recurrence of such incidents. The confidential details of accidents and incidents involving exposure or potential exposure to radiation are provided to ARPANSA for the Australian Radiation Incidents Register.
The incidents were found to have causes that are broadly similar to incidents reported elsewhere in Australia. A summary of the types of incidents is given below.
Medical
Eleven incidents involved radiology departments. The main cause of the incidents was inadequate checking of a patient’s ID (identity) or clinical notes. This included patients responding to the wrong name when called, patients with similar names being mistaken and diagnostic X-rays taken of the wrong bodily location. In all these cases, staff were reminded of the importance of checking patient identification and clinical notes prior to radiographic procedure.
Two incidents reported from radiotherapy departments were primarily caused by staff not strictly following procedures. This included patients and radiation beams being wrongly positioned, and the radiation dose being different from that prescribed. Each case was reviewed and no adverse medical outcomes were expected.
Two nuclear medicine incidents were reported to the EPA during 2013–14. This included spillage of a radiopharmaceutical, and lack of radiographic images due to apparatus startup procedures not followed by staff resulting in the patient receiving a repeat procedure. Each case was reviewed and no adverse medical outcomes were expected.
Cyclotron facility
One incident was reported to the EPA of an unintentional release of radioisotope to the atmosphere during the commissioning phase of a cyclotron. After investigation it was noted that the radioisotope had a very short half-life and did not pose any harm to the public or to the environment.
Industry and mining
Two industrial and/or scientific incidents were reported to the EPA during the period. This included a borehole logging tool not appropriately stored, resulting in staff exposure to radiation. After investigation it was noted that staff received negligible doses (below occupational limits). In the other incident, a vehicle crashed into a parked car containing a nuclear density gauge. The gauge was checked for damage, but none was detected.
Uranium mining operations in South Australia are required to record and report incidents and events (for example, spills of process materials) as part of approved radiation management plans and in accordance with the Bachmann Criteria established for uranium mines in South Australia. During 2013–14, four incidents were publicly reported and managed to completion under the approved incident reporting procedures for uranium mines. One included a release of a uranium oxide product into the drum packaging area. Management of all incidents are overseen by the EPA to ensure that adequate investigations and mitigation measures are put in place.
There were no environmental or health impacts arising from any of the incidents.
Details of environmental spill events reported for Olympic Dam, Beverley and Honeymoon under the Bachmann Criteria are available via the DSD website.