Omissions about the sources of contaminant emissions and depositions – A reply to comments on Taylor, M.P., Davies, P.J., Kristensen, L.J., Csavina, J., 2014. Licenced to pollute but not to poison: The ineffectiveness of regulatory authorities at protecting public health from atmospheric arsenic, lead and other contaminants resulting from mining and smelting operations. Aeolian Research 14, 35–52

Abstract

[Extract] We would like to thank Dr Wilson for increasing the interest in our 2014 Aeolian Research study along with our other articles that he referred to in his letter to the journal. Before we tackle the specifics of his letter, we would like to inform the readers that our response is inclusive of several other authors whose Mount Isa research was referred to in Dr Wilson’s letter. In our Mount Isa manuscripts we have documented our relevant interests, unlike recent research on Mount Isa by others, see Taylor et al. (2015). In this regard, we believe it is relevant to report Dr Wilson’s former role as Director of the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1999 to 2009 and then Senior Director of the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management from 2009 to 2011 (Wilson, 2015). M.P. Taylor telephoned Dr Wilson in early January 2015 to clarify his role in the Queensland Government Mount Isa Lead Management Report (Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) because we were aware that he was a Queensland Government spokesperson for matters at Mount Isa for some years (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2008a and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2008b). Dr Wilson confirmed that although he was not the primary author of the Mount Isa Lead Management Report (no author is listed in the document) (Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, 2008), he was involved with reviewing and editing the report prior to its publication. Dr Wilson also confirmed he had reviewed and edited earlier versions of this report, of which we have obtained copies. These earlier reports are significant because they contain statements and data that reveal the Queensland Government had a well-developed knowledge of the source of the environmental lead problem in Mount Isa. In this reply to his letter, we detail some relevant statements from two draft versions of the Mount Isa Lead Management Report (Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, 2007a and Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, 2007b). In light of the aforementioned information, it is surprising Dr Wilson did not consider his previous role as a Director of the Environment Protection Authority for Queensland as a possible conflict of interest.