NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has described delays in telling residents about a chemical leak in Newcastle as "completely and utterly unacceptable" - but he has defended embattled Environment Minister Robyn Parker.
Mr O'Farrell told a parliamentary inquiry into the August 8 leak from Orica's Newcastle plant that "no one should be happy" about the delays in notifying nearby Stockton residents.
It took Orica until the next day, a Tuesday, to notify the government's Office of Environment and Heritage of the hexavalent chromium leak, and until the Wednesday to notify NSW Health.
It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that Ms Parker made a public statement in parliament about the Kooragang Island accident.
Mr O'Farrell blamed the delay on Orica and various government agencies, which did not notify the relevant ministers, including Ms Parker, until Wednesday night - two days after the leak.
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"The delay in notifying the minister, the delay in notifying the premier ... was completely and utterly unacceptable," Mr O'Farrell told the inquiry on Monday.
"But understand, no government agency was responsible for this spill. Understand ... there just appeared to be a complete and utter breakdown or some cavalier attitude by the company involved.
"The failing here, whilst shared by government agencies, was a failing of Orica's making."
Mr O'Farrell defended Ms Parker when asked if she had failed the Stockton community by taking so long to make her public statement, and he accused the opposition of a "political witch hunt".
"Presumably the minister was advised by her agency, the Office of Environment and Heritage, presumably the minister took that advice and the next day ... a statement was made," he said.
Ms Parker has faced calls for her sacking over the delay in informing residents, over her inability to recall the name of Orica boss Graeme Liebelt at a media conference, and over revelations she had not spoken with him to discuss the leak.
She faced a three-hour grilling late on Monday, when the opposition accused her of failing to visit Stockton after the chemical accident.
Ms Parker told the inquiry she had been to Stockton on "numerous occasions" but couldn't name a specific occasion.
"I go to Stockton reasonably often ... I live in the next electorate, I live in the Hunter Valley, I don't shoot up there for grandstanding," she said.
She defended her handling of the incident, saying the failure to inform was Orica's.
Asked by Labor MP Luke Foley if she'd had discussions with Mr O'Farrell about resigning over her handling of the leak, Ms Parker replied, "Absolutely not."
The inquiry also heard that the government's Pollution Line received 26 calls in the two weeks following the August 8 leak, eight of which were from residents complaining of rashes and respiratory problems.
The residents were told to consult their GPs or the public health authority in the Hunter, and their complaints were forwarded to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and an independent health expert panel, the inquiry was told.
NSW Health and the government have repeatedly said the leak posed no health risk to residents.
"It's very understandable that people would have been concerned, and we fully accept and understand that, but the difficulty is that the health experts have to look at the evidence and establish whether there is a link," EPA head Greg Sullivan said.
"What they concluded on all the evidence that was provided to them was that there was no health impact from this particular incident."
