AN INSPECTION of the ex-HMAS Adelaide in Sydney this morning revealed a potential 28 tonnes of toxic lead paint remains on the ship.
 
It took a US expert witness paid for by a community fundraising to discover the unidentified paint.
 
US naval engineer and ship disposal expert Werner Hoyt arrived in Sydney on Monday morning to present evidence to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
 
Mr Hoyt’s potential lead paint discovery adds to the ongoing saga, reminiscent of Australian film The Castle, which began after the State Government planned to dump an obsolete warship at Avoca Beach under the guise of an artificial reef.
 
After his inspection Mr Hoyt said almost all the ship’s interior ship surfaces were painted and remain painted with lead-based primer.
 
There are 21,000 square metres of painted interior surface areas, which, based on experienced observation estimates a potential 28 tonnes of lead paint.
 
Full ship records are being sought from the Department of Defence.

Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett’s barrister, Mr Andras Markus, said: “If there is a real prospect that there’s this amount of lead on the ship then the Tribunal ought to know about it.”
 
No Ship Action Group’s barrister Geoffrey Kennett, working with the Environmental Defender’s Office, said: “We will be advancing the case in relation to chromium and lead [on the ship]”.
 
On ABC television’s Stateline program on March 12, State Minister for Planning Tony Kelly said: (http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/03/12/2844703.htm
 
Time: 5:20 minutes:seconds:)
 
“The Adelaide is the first, as the Navy put it, their first Environmental Ship. It was painted with different paints and no lead."  Tony Kelly on ABC televisions Stateline, March 12.
 
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, CoChair of International POPs Elimination Network and advisor to National Toxics Network, said there was no safe level of lead.
 
 "Lead is a well-known neurotoxic metal that impairs the neurological development of children and can cause cancer in adults. There is no safe level,” she said.
 
“Lead is very persistent in the environment and accumulates in soils, sediments and living organisms including marine mammals and fish.
 
She said the lead content in marine paint is very high, sometimes over 50 per cent.

No Ship Action Group
 
Media Inquiries
 
Ben Smith 0409 693 205,
 
Michelle Meares 0439 645 372
 
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith +(612) 66815340 / 0413 621557

Note: Following further evidence given by experts at the Tribunal, NSAG is not pressing the issue of chromium.