Pasminco EZ stops dumping
HOBART — Pasminco EZ dumped its last load of production waste, jarosite, off the continental shelf south of Hobart on October 29. For the last 23 years, the zinc smelting company, which operates on the banks of the Derwent River, has shipped its toxic waste — a cocktail of heavy metals and arsenic — out to sea.
Prior to 1974, the jarosite waste was dumped straight into the Derwent River, the legacy of which is its title as the most heavy metal-polluted river in the world. The waste is now to be reprocessed in Pasminco's Port Pirie smelter in South Australia.