Moving near Alcoa's Kwinana residue area? What the dust studies say

Families moving to Perth's southern suburbs keep running into the same question: is the air safe near Alcoa's Kwinana residue site? A newcomer about to rent in Hammond Park this week found a 2017 report warning about air quality just south of their new home, and couldn't find anything more recent.

The short answer is that the area has been studied for two decades, the rules were reset in late 2024, and the official findings are more reassuring than the old headlines, though not for every patch of land.

What's there

Alcoa's Kwinana refinery produces alumina from bauxite. The material left over is stored in a large residue disposal area that sits immediately west of Mandogalup, between the Kwinana Industrial Area and growing suburbs like Hammond Park. According to the state's planning documents, the residue is made up mainly of iron and silica materials.

The main concern for nearby homes has always been dust: whether wind-blown particles from the residue area could affect health or simply make life unpleasant through grit on cars and windowsills.

Photo: Calistemon via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Quenda Estate, Hammond Park, September 2020.

Twenty years of buffer fights

According to the Mandogalup Improvement Scheme report published by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage:

• In 2008, the WA Planning Commission flagged land within 1 kilometre of the nearest residue area as "subject to further investigation" because of possible dust, noise and visual impacts.
• In 2015, the then government tried to lock in a wider buffer through legislation, but the bill lapsed when government changed in 2017.
• In 2017, the Environmental Protection Authority gave the Environment Minister advice that split Mandogalup into four sub-areas based on air quality and amenity. The EPA said the risk from dust did not follow a set distance from the residue area. That's likely the report the Hammond Park newcomer found.
• In 2018, after the EPA said part of eastern Mandogalup had a low likelihood of health or amenity impacts, that land was cleared for housing.

What the dust monitoring found

In 2019 the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation published a study that used LiDAR to map dust plumes at Mandogalup. It found:

• The residue area is one of several dust sources, alongside sand quarries, roads, trucks, farming and the industrial area.
• Fine PM10 dust levels at the two monitoring sites were broadly comparable to other parts of Perth and its semi-rural fringe.
• Larger particles, the kind that settle as visible grit, decreased with distance from the residue area.

Alcoa has long said its monitoring at Kwinana shows no cause for concern.

Photo: Calistemon via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Henderson Cliffs, with the Alcoa Kwinana refinery on the horizon, October 2023.

The rules now

On 8 November 2024, the Mandogalup Improvement Scheme No. 1 became the planning scheme for the area, replacing the Metropolitan Region Scheme and City of Kwinana scheme there. One of its stated aims is to keep "adequate separation" between industry and homes, with a gradual change in land use between them. The scheme's concept plan includes a site for an air quality monitor.

If you're moving to the area

• Check the scheme map on the WA Government website to see what's zoned near your street.
• The RAC Air Health Monitor shows live readings from sensors around Perth.
• Locals suggest visiting on a windy weekday, morning and afternoon, to see the dust and traffic for yourself.
• Locals also say freeway widening and future freight routes may matter more to day-to-day life than the residue area.

Questions about the scheme can go to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage on (08) 6551 8002.

Sources: Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (Mandogalup Improvement Scheme No. 1 and scheme report); Environmental Protection Authority; Department of Water and Environmental Regulation; RAC; comments from Perth locals.

Photo: Calistemon via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Alcoa Kwinana Refinery from Sutton Road, February 2024.