There is concern about potential environmental impacts from a diesel import terminal to be built at Port Bonython near Whyalla.

Mitsubishi will construct the $110 million terminal but Sid Wilson from the Alternative Port Working Party says the site is inappropriate.

“There’s no guarantee that something won’t go wrong and if something goes wrong it’s at the top of what they call an inverse estuary and it’ll impact on the whole of the top of the gulf,” he said.

However, Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says there should not be a negative environmental impact from increased shipping.

“There’s already shipping there now so I can’t imagine it having any impact at all,” he said.

He says it shows confidence in the region.

“Well, it’ll mean more jobs, it’ll mean more investment, it’ll mean greater economic turnover which is good for the economy and good for local residents,” he said.

The chairman of the Cultana Jenkins Shack Owners Association, Nick Kriticos, says it is a shock, as talk about the project had quietened.

“I get around Whyalla a fair bit, people know me and I know a lot of things that are going on in that area and it’s never been discussed with me in the past two years,” he said.

The Whyalla council has welcomed the jobs the terminal will create.

Source: ABC