Councillor Bruce Ledo does not support the current proposal by BHP Billiton, or an associate, to build a desalination plant on the area known as Point Lowly Peninsula.
Cr Ledo said as the proposed Point Lowly desalination project has progressed, a plethora of information has been presented to the community, the State and through the involvement of academia, the world.
"Flinders University researchers were early opponents based on their modelling of the Gulf currents," he said.
"BHP Billiton has a counter argument based on what seemed like good research and two years of current modelling.
"They also assured us that the natural habitats of the region would not be compromised by the building of a desalination plant."
He said his initial reaction was one of cautious optimism based on the proposal to supply Whyalla and the region with potable water.
Cr Ledo said "faith is vindicated by the evidence we have before us", and asked the community to consider supporting his motion at Monday night's council meeting.
"According to them (BHP Billiton), the hyper-saline water they want to discharge into our gulf will have no impact on the marine environment and particularly on the marine species that live there, and that we both enjoy recreationally and that sustain major industries in this region."
He said on the other side, we had increasing speculation of the damage that could be done, in particular, to the giant cuttlefish and the prawn fishing industry.
"This is when I started to get very nervous," Cr Ledo said.
"It would seem to be a given that we have unique and very difficult currents in our gulf, which means that flushing is a very real problem.
"In its natural state this could, of course, be the very reason why the ecology of the area is what it is - this could be the very reason why our fishery is so valuable and so productive.
"If we mess with this we could irreversibly alter the very nature of the gulf and everything that makes it valuable."
Cr Ledo said he is now convinced the risk is too great for him to accept, but he is not against the development of the region.
"I am not opposed to BHP Billiton coming back with a better proposal, except that I would take a lot of convincing that any desalination plant with sea discharge could work in this gulf," he said.
Cr Ledo weighed up the potential cost of a lost industrial development in terms of employment and the attraction of other economic activity.
"I apologise to those who will see my motion as a betrayal of the economic development aspirations they have for the city," he said.
"I am not and will never be opposed to economic development that has positive outcomes for the city and the region.
"I put on notice that I will not automatically oppose any further proposals for industrial development in the region, including the Point Lowly Peninsula."
Cr Ledo said he would assess each proposal on its individual merits.
"This is, I believe, what I am charged by my office to do, and I will do it diligently for as long as I am able."
He said he could no longer stay quiet on this particular issue, and he had told people from day one that he would wait and look at all the evidence.
"I have avoided engagement in the emotional debates that have been waged by several groups in the city," he said.
"For the long term wellbeing of this community I urge us to take a stand against this proposal in its current form, and hope that a clear message to Government and BHP Billiton will encourage a re-think and search for a more suitable location for a desalination plant," he said.
"I remind you all that under their own timetable for the expansion of Olympic Dam, they have until 2015 to get it right."
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