Whyalla Steelworks
Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the distribution of finished steel products of over 90 different grades.
It occupies a 1,000 ha site on the shore of False Bay, Spencer Gulf and is the largest employer in Whyalla, South Australia.
Approximately 1.2 million tonnes of raw steel is produced in the steelworks each year, with about 65% of that transferred by rail to Arrium's Market Mills as billets for further processing.
Dust emissions from the steelworks became a controversial topic in 2005 after legislation was rewritten to nullify a legal battle between OneSteel and the South Australian Environmental Protection Agency.
Prior to the steelworks' construction, the ore was shipped from Whyalla (then known as Hummock Hill) to Port Pirie for use as a flux in smelters.
After the war, the steelworks and shipyards continued to produce a range of products including rail track and maritime vessels for commercial use.
In the 1960s, a BOS rolling mills and coke ovens were constructed, enabling the Whyalla plant to become a fully integrated steelworks.
[4] With the launch of the tanker Arthur Phillip in 1974, the Whyalla shipyard passed a major milestone, having produced over one million tonnes of merchant vessels in total.
The eventual closure of the shipyards came as a major blow to the town of Whyalla and plunged it into an economic recession, with 1,800 workers made redundant.
The initial deconstruction work was done by McMahon Services at Port Pirie before the hull was moved across Spencer Gulf to Whyalla.
[9] As of 2021, the interests of the works' owners, GFG Alliance, are represented to the South Australian parliament by lobbying firm, Bespoke Approach.
57.5 MW of this capacity consisted of three turbo alternators driven by steam raised in various boilers, fired primarily by waste blast furnace and coke oven gases.
[17] Despite this on-site capacity, the plant relies on purchased electricity for a substantial portion of its needs, and only exports power to the grid occasionally.
Between 1999 and 2004, 95 cases of lung cancer were recorded - 32 more than the Government of South Australia's Department of Health anticipated based on studies of other regions in the state.
[31] Concerns regarding emissions and their health impacts came to a head between 2005 and 2007, largely due to the efforts of Ted Kittel and the community-lead Whyalla Red Dust Action Group.
By proposing to transport ore from the Iron Duke mine in a slurry pipeline, the company hoped to reduce opportunities for the emission of excessive red dust.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell openly criticised the government for initially relaxing the EPA licensing conditions on dust emissions by modifying the company's Indenture Act after significant breaches were recorded in 2005.
The Australian Democrats' leader Sandra Kanck was critical of the removal of the Minister for the Environment from the role of overseeing emissions licensing for OneSteel.
[35] As public and political pressure persisted, the Government eventually modified the licensing conditions for the facility's allowable airborne pollution emissions.
OneSteel believes that Project Magnet was successful in addressing the red dust issue, mainly through the company's introduction of a wet crushing process in 2007.
Since then, OneSteel has attempted to further reduce its dust emissions and works with council and community groups to improve the visual appearance of dust-impacted areas in Whyalla.
I believe that OneSteel has now set a benchmark in the way it addresses environmental issues and in the excellent way it now communicates with the community.”[37] Media related to Whyalla steelworks at Wikimedia Commons
