A timely article Brian Holden on the damming of lakes and rivers and the potential risks to our threatened biodiversity.

We should be forever mindful that man did not weave the web of life for he is but one thread within it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

All things are bound together. All things connect.

Your article brought a tear to my eye Brian. It took me back to my own experiences in the bush on the south side of Perth, looking for orchids as a kid in the 60s where Murdoch University now is. Apart from a tiny remnant on the uni grounds, there is hardly a skerrick of bush for a huge distance. Just houses. And it was worse, much worse, on the north side.

Saw the same sort of thing happen in north Queensland in the 80s and 90s, with massive urban expansion in Townsville and Cairns, enormous sugarcane expansion, and absolutely massive land-clearing over vast areas of central and southern Queensland.

Land-clearing has virtually stopped... except in coastal areas where urban expansion continues, in fact at a faster rate than ever before.

And so it goes.

Lemmings to the cliff indeed.

"It is this type of romanticism that inspires environmental activism to oppose virtually all natural resource use without thinking through the implications."

I'm an environmental activist MWPOYNTER and my activism has not emerged from any romantic ideas but rather through the reality.

Australia's record for managing its natural resources is appalling - particularly when we have such a small population.

The real world includes emissions' reports from pollutant industries. I have perused many of these and all breach regulatory guidelines. The Environmental Protection Acts were established in the 70's to protect the environment. Alas, they have only protected the polluter.

Several examples include the dioxin poisoning of the magnificent Sydney Harbour. Languishing in a shed at Botany Bay is over 10,000 tonnes of hexachlorobenzene - the largest "cache" ever and one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet. Whilst Germany had offered to destroy this cache they have backed down and no other country will touch it. A toxic plume is heading for the bay.

In WA, another hazardous U/G plume is heading for the Helena River which feeds into the Swan. Contamination of these rivers will be catastrophic. This is a result of the Department of Environment's failure to enforce conditions on a hazardous waste plant operator.

Kwinana industrial site in WA is disgustingly polluted and a health survey revealed that Kwinana/Rockingham had the highest rate of cancer in the country.

Alcoa in the S/W of WA have plundered and polluted Yarloop and Wagerup. Regulators have ignored community appeals and reports from medical experts. In fact, you may find it amusing that the citizens have had to resort to employing Erin Brockovich to instigate a class action against this company which has an abysmal record of resource management in many countries.

Two months ago in Kalgoorlie, Barrack/Newmont was fined a pittance for spilling millions of litres of toxic solution into the groundwater - the second serious offence for this year.

That is the reality MWPOYNTER.

The number of serious breaches concerning resource management are endless. Should you require more, I would be only to happy to provide them.

To dickie
In many ways you are supporting my point. I don't know much about mining or industrial processes (my expertise is in forests), but I presume the same types of problems that you have mentioned occur in developing countries, only on a larger scale.

My point is that the usual response of our environmental activists is to simply campaign to end mining, forestry, or whatever the issue is - they are not satisfied with improving management or attaining 'best practice' management.

But ending these activities in Australia where we have the capacity to address serious problems, simply shifts them to developing countries where there is far less capacity and political will to deal with the problems

"Only shallow water has the capacity to give a mirror image of the background."

I hate to labour the point, but I spotted a contemporary photo of Lake Pedder in a recent issue of "40 degrees South" magazine that disproves your claim.

MWPOYNTER

Thank you for your response.

While I am not sufficiently au fait with the environmental movements in the forestry industry, I can assure you I am reasonably well informed with the operations of pollutant industries.

The claim that environmentalists wish only to shut down industry is mere propaganda peddled by those with vested interests. While the environment movement does on occasion, attract a few "nutters," the majority members are far better informed than the general public.

Fundamental truths and documented evidence paints a sobering picture and the realisation that self-regulation of pollutant industries has been a failure.

These facts are derived from perusing official analytical results of stack emissions which have been performed by accredited NATA laboratories.

When one realises that emissions, even from very small operators, are exceeding national and international maximum guidelines on a daily basis then one can justify one's concerns.

I draw your attention to the fact that I have viewed documented evidence that shows that stack emissions of dioxins or furans are some 9 or 10 times in excess of these guidelines. Carbon monoxide - 900 times in excess of guidelines etc etc.

Regulators purposely fail to include conditions within operating licences thus allowing operators free reign to pollute with impunity.

Even without this knowledge one can glean from sensible observation that enforcement of emission guidelines in Australia has never been practised. Perhaps one need only look at our reputation as the largest pollutant emitter per capita on the planet.

I am confident when I claim that regulatory processes in this country are often of a third world standard.

Unfortunately, the industry barons and successive sycophantic governments intend to keep it that way.

Cheers