BCP Group's Boyanup sand mine proposal triggers fears of silica dust spread

Bob Horsfall points to the proposed area for the sand mine from the boundary of his fence.  (ABC South West WA: Ethan French)

Bob Horsfall has lived on his Boyanup property, about two hours south of Perth, for 21 years and is enjoying a peaceful retirement with his wife.

But he is increasingly concerned that a sand mine, proposed to be built near his home, will blow silica dust onto his property.

Mr Horsfall said an application to extract white silica sand from a neighbouring property, about 90 metres from his house, was threatening that peace.

“We’re on a hill that has extremely high winds and we’re concerned that all that dust is just going to blow straight onto our property and we’d be breathing it in,” he said.

“Also [it’s proposed] within 20 metres of our only water source. We have a water plant that’s near the fence and they want to mine next to that.”

Urban planning group Element Advisory is seeking development approval to mine sand for civil construction projects on behalf of mining company BCP Group.

The $3 million proposal was originally rejected by the Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) last August due to its proximity to neighbouring properties.

Element re-filed the proposal to the State Administrative Tribunal with modifications to dust management, increasing setbacks and providing more data on existing ambient noise levels and traffic management.

The matter is now back before the JDAP.

Community concerned

Mr Horsfall is not the only resident concerned about silica dust being blown onto neighbouring properties.

Donna Brown made a submission to the JDAP detailing how she saw how nearby landowners would be affected if the mine proceeded.

“Several residences are within the 300- to 500-metre buffer zone with the area being in an open windswept plain with homes, livestock and watercourses which will be affected by silica dust if excavated,” her submission said.

The research of University of Western Australia associate professor Peter Franklin focuses on the health effects of mining exposures and air pollution.

Silicosis is a long-term lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust which can become airborne during work activities with materials that contain silica.

But Dr Franklin said the risk of silica dust exposure for people who were not working directly in a mine was “relatively low”.

“In WA there’s no silicosis cases that I’m aware of that are non-occupational,” he said.

“It comes down to when you say: ‘What is the risk?’ I mean, the risk relates to the exposure.”

Dr Franklin said despite the generally low risk, any mining or industrial activities should take all precautions to ensure offsite emissions were reduced.

Noise pollution concerns

Mr Horsfall said he was also worried about loud machinery and noise pollution from the mine as his grandchildren were attending school on his property.

“[We’d be] going from complete peace and quiet to having machines operating six days a week at a time when we’re trying to put the kids through school,” he said.

His wife is also concerned about how the noise would affect her horses.

“You’ve got heavy machinery working next to young horses. It just doesn’t work,” Mr Horsfall said.

“They’re also near out near the stable block, they’re about 25 metres away, which means that we can’t even use our stables anymore.”

If the proposal goes ahead Mr Horsfall said moving was not really an option.

“I’m not in a position to move, they’ve not offered to buy our property, and I’m not that keen to move at my age. But it basically makes our property unfit for purpose.”

Since the first proposal, changes have been made to increase the distance between the mine and nearest home by 30 metres, and to build a bund to try and block noise.

The project is set to be reviewed by the JDAP on Monday after several delays.