OUR air quality is crucial. Recall the bushfires, when we needed to close up our homes to exclude as much smoke as we could.
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Recently, Bathurst Community Climate Action Network (BCCAN) put in a submission on the proposed new NSW Clean Air Regulations, due for implementation in September.
These regulations set the legal framework for managing air quality and controlling air pollution.
RECENT ECO NEWS COLUMNS:
We know that coal-fired power stations like Mount Piper need to close as soon as possible. But besides their greenhouse gas emissions are the effects of their air and ash by-products.
We looked at the pollution from Mount Piper recorded in the National Pollution Inventory, 2020/2021 and read the thoroughly researched information on Environmental Justice Australia and Greenpeace websites. Tough-to-hear facts came to light.
Mount Piper power station must report on 24 air emissions categories. Because most are not visible, we suggest that their presence and potency are inclined to be unrecognised and thus little thought about.
In that year, it emitted 17 kilograms of mercury (up from 7kg the previous year); also 47 tonnes of solid particles smaller than 2.5um: ".. a dangerous air pollutant which - due to its small size - can pass deep into lungs, hearts and veins, infiltrating every part of the human body. Chronic exposure to PM2.5 increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer."
NSW's air quality standards are relatively poor by international standards. Technology to retrofit power stations is widely available and used overseas, but low regulatory requirements have not encouraged their use here.
Scientists have found that there is no level of air pollution at which exposure does not cause or contribute to adverse health impacts, including premature deaths.
Hard as it is to hear, we need to know that annually in Australia, air pollution from coal-burning power stations is responsible for around 800 deaths, and 15,000 asthma symptoms in those aged five to 19.
It also causes around 850 cases of low birth weight in newborns annually.
In NSW, coal-fired power stations are the single most significant controllable source of air pollution, and its impacts are huge: $1.4 billion annually.
The best way to reduce air pollution is to replace fossil fuel generation with renewables, but, until then, we should at least ensure that they minimise their air pollution.
We hope that the Environment Protection Authority will set stronger standards. It would be like a breath of fresh air.