Not Just Birds in Esperance

Mysterious bird deaths in Esperance, Australia have been linked to lead poisoning. Now we know that people were exposed as well.

Writing in The Independent, Kathy Marks has neatly summed up the present knowledge of the lead fiasco in Esperance, Australia. Thousands of tons of lead carbonate pellets have moved through Esperance; they are mined inland and then shipped out through the port. Lead dust emissions are monitored, but Marks reports that sudden increases have not been reported. Lead now contaminates the harbour, water supplies, people, birds, and other living things.

Thousands of birds died in December 2006 but we only recently learned that lead killed them. Four months after the fact, the people of Esperance are finally hearing what the birds were trying to tell them--the scope of the exposure and remaining environmental contamination is such that there are sure to be health consequences for both people and wildlife far into the future.

We’ve known for a long time that lead is a toxic heavy metal. The effects of lead poisoning in birds are also well documented. How is it that the Port of Esperance could be so careless, and why did it take so long to figure out what was going on?

Read previous blog posts on the bird deaths in Esperance, Australia:

January 13, 2006: Dead Birds in Esperance

March 17, 2007: Lead Killing Birds in Esperance

Read “Birds fell out of the sky as a whole town was poisoned by lead dust.” by Kathy Marks (The Independent, 05 Apr 2007)