In the early 1960's I worked for the Alumina Commission at Bell Bay and lived in Georgetown. The dust from the mill spread for miles, cars had a limited life because the alumina dust seemed to corrode the metal bodies, and the river suffered from discharges from the factory.
To contemplate a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley, pumping thousands of gallons of toxins int the river, which then flows into the sea, is a death sentence for the area and the fishing industry, if not for Tasmania.
Known as the Green State, Tasmania was a great tourist venue for people who liked wilderness, wild places, quiet towns and villages and gardens.
With a mill churning through 80 trees an hour, how long will the area sustain this mill? Then, where will the trees come from? Trucked in B doubles from other parts of the island? I foresee the mill closing in the foreseeable future, leaving a poisoned river and a deforested, eroding area in its wake.
While it may create jobs, it will destroy a river and a lifestyle far beyond the Tamar River.
It was an ill thought out strategy, and I hope it does not go ahead.
Mrs. P Ferguson
Berkeley 2506.
