MORUYA resident Damien Rogers remains dissatisfied with the answers provided to his queries on the Moruya to Deep Creek waterline.
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Mr Rogers said he understood that people involved with laying the pipeline, in about 2008, had alleged gas mains line was being used.
“This allegation surfaced recently, after the story was passed to a rates petitioner,” Mr Rogers said.
Mr Rogers then inspected and photographed leftover pipe at the Tomakin Sewage Treatment works.
“The pipe used has only a thin single coat of epoxy paint (less than 1mm thick) over bare metal,” he said.
“Steel water pipe (to the Australian Standard for drinking water ASNZ 4020) has special thick linings below any such surface finishes, to cope with the extreme abrasive environment inside water pipes, and importantly to prevent corrosion.”
He said this was usually cement or plastic, “centimetres thick”.
Mr Rogers said a Public Works employee had told him the pipe used did not comply with the Australian Standard (see separate story).
He said the council was “now saying that the paint inside does, and that this is some new system (developed by Orrcon) which meets “standards” and warranties (the public have not seen)”.
“The tender documents prepared by public works for council, specified various options of pipe council could use, all of which complied with this Australian Standard for drinking water, and all the steel options were of course cement lined,” he said.
He said the council chose a cheaper alternative.
Mr Rogers said he had made made inquiries of the council in January “to clear up the confusion”.
“We asked council two simple questions in January, under a paid, formal freedom-of-information (FOI) request,” he said.
The request was “to supply us with full specifications for the pipe actually ordered, and secondly to say who formulated these specifications, and what were their qualifications to do so”.
Mr Rogers said his questions were passed to Public Works, but were unanswered “by the deadline”.
“After I complained, I received a copy of the tender documents (showing only the pipe options which council did not order),” he said.
“My follow up with council and Public Works resulted in a formal refusal from both, with Public Works refusing to answer (the actual questions asked) under the FOI.
“Public Works (is) also declining our suggestion to simply look inside the pipe to check if there is corrosion or delaminating, saying ‘that is up to council’.”
Mr Rogers said he had sought advice from “a mechanical engineer pipeline specialist for a large pipeline project company” who had “identified the pipe in the photos to me as API 5L steel pipe, which is used for high pressure gas and oil applications”.
The contractor alleged the pipe did not comply with Australian Standards for drinking water, and cost about one-sixth the price of ASNZ 4020 water pipe.
“So this begs the question,” Mr Rogers said, “are residents not allowed to know what they paid for, and are now drinking out of?”
In Wednesday’s Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, a Eurobodalla Shire Council spokesman said Orrcon, a major manufacturer of gas pipe, had been accredited to produce pipe for potable water, lined with Scotchkote expoxy and had satisfied Australian standards.
The Bay Post/Moruya Examiner last week attempted to interview a Public Works employee, whose contact details Mr Rogers had supplied, but the employee refused to speak either on or off the record.
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