A South-West resident claims that noise from Alcoa’s alumina refinery in Wagerup, about 100km from Perth, is impacting his health.
Des Busher, who lives 3km from the refinery, has repeatedly recorded noise levels that breach allowable night-time limits during the past decade.
At times the noise peaks at between 40 to 50 decibels on his handheld decibel meter and can last hours at a time.
“It can last 3 to 4 hours, sometimes it might last 5 minutes, the thing is it wakes him up,” Community Alliance for Positive Solutions (CAPS) chairman Vince Puccio says.
According to the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997, the maximum allowable noise level in residential areas between 10pm and 7am is 35 decibels.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation did not answer specific questions on the issue and took two weeks to issue the following statement: “The department is investigating reports of excessive noise from a resident in the vicinity of Wagerup.”
“This investigation is currently active and therefore, no further information can be released at this time.”
Since at least 2023, CAPS have emailed video recordings of the noise breaches to government officials, including the department.
An Alcoa spokesman said the company acknowledges that noise from its Wagerup refinery can impact residents living nearby and stated that it is a priority area of environmental management.
“A comprehensive monitoring program is in place to understand noise generated at the refinery and, where possible, reduce noise from the source or its potential impact on residents living near the refinery,” the spokesman said.
The company said it restricts some activities to daytime hours, assesses equipment for noise output and limits activities depending on the weather.
“Noise monitors are in place at Hamel,” the spokesman said.
The company did not state if its monitoring had revealed any breaches of regulated noise limits.
Mr Puccio claims Mr Busher’s health has been “rapidly deteriorating” due to sleep deprivation caused by the “intrusive” tonal sounds, which he says comes from Alcoa’s machinery.
“These noise breaches have been persisting for over 20 years, with no actions taken (by government officials) to hold Alcoa accountable,” Mr Puccio says.
University of Melbourne housing expert Dr Erika Martino says excessive noise can cause cardiovascular disease and sleep disturbance, with stress recognised as a key pathway to poor mental health outcomes.
“Frequent exposure to industrial noise is highly correlated with poorer self-reported mental health in Australia, particularly affecting children, older adults, chronically ill persons, shift workers, and lower socioeconomic groups,” Dr Martino says.
