Alcoa in legal stoush over Wagerup

Alcoa has vowed to defend any legal action launched by residents and spearheaded by celebrity activist Erin Brockovich over the company's Wagerup refinery.

In a statement, the company said it was aware that legal action has been filed in the United States relating to health concerns over its Wagerup facility, located around 120 kilometres south of Perth.

The action has been filed on behalf of former and current residents of towns located near the refinery by Queensland firm Shine Lawyers, media reports say.

Alcoa Australia managing director Alan Cransberg said in a statement that the "allegations are without merit".

"We will defend, in the appropriate forum, our performance and reputation as a company," he said.

"We greatly value our local communities and we are proud of the work we do together. We do, and will continue to, operate in a safe and sustainable way."

Alcoa's statement is below:

We are aware that legal action has been filed against Alcoa Inc. in the US. We intend to vigorously defend our performance and reputation as a company. Alcoa places a high value on the health and safety of our employees and neighbours and we have conducted ourselves in accordance with that value in our Western Australian operations.

Alcoa is very confident that our operations are safe for both our employees and surrounding communities. This has been consistently supported by independent studies conducted by leading scientific organisations. The Wagerup refinery, in particular, is amongst the most studied industrial facilities in Australia. The area surrounding the Wagerup refinery has been the subject of unprecedented air quality review, undertaken by independent specialists using leading edge technology. These studies have reinforced our operations are safe for our employees and surrounding communities.

Alcoa of Australia's Managing Director Alan Cransberg said, "The allegations are without merit. We will defend, in the appropriate forum, our performance and reputation as a company.

"We greatly value our local communities and we are proud of the work we do together. We do, and will continue to, operate in a safe and sustainable way."