A notice of motion by Cr. Morgan Campbell will ask council to write to Norsk Hydro “expressing deep concern” over plans to store 350,000 tonnes of waste (including spent potlining) in a containment cell on the Kurri site, and calling on them to instead reprocess the toxic material in a government-regulated facility.

“Spent potlining contains both toxic fluoride and cyanide compounds, which are leachable when they come into contact with moisture,” Cr. Campbell’s motion states.

“Hydro have shown good will during this process and absolutely have the right to minimise their costs where possible, but no containment cell, state-of-the-art or otherwise, can give the local residents confidence that their environment will be safe from these toxins.

“This material must be reprocessed in a suitable facility.”

Hydro managing director Richard Brown said the proposed containment cell is a common industry practice and would be built to the highest standard.