RIGHT now, NSW coal-fired power stations are having their five-yearly review of regulations on pollution standards.
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Why should we be interested? What is at stake?
Here, I will compare some standards to those that have applied in the European Union (EU) since 2017.
In 2021-22, National Pollutant Inventory data shows that Mount Piper Power Station near Lithgow decreased power generation by 32 per cent, yet had some jumps in pollution: 147pc increase in PM2.5 fine particle pollution, 78pc increase in PM10 particle pollution, and 59pc increase in mercury pollution.
Regarding fine particle (PM2.5) air pollution, Dr Ben Ewald, a senior lecturer at University of Newcastle School of Medicine and Public Health, wrote: "There is a substantial health burden including deaths, new cases of diabetes, and babies born with low birth weight due to the fine particle air pollution arising from burning coal for electricity generation in NSW. The best estimate of the annual burden is 279 premature deaths, 361 people who develop diabetes, and 233 underweight babies .... People dying this year will have been affected by air quality over many years, so removing the air pollution would result in a gradual rather than immediate improvement in health." (November 2018.)
Fine particle pollution allowable in NSW is 50 units, versus 8 in the EU, so that's over six times worse.
Turning to mercury: our nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of it. Exposure to high levels of any types of mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing foetus. It also accumulates in the body.
NSW power stations are allowed to emit up to 12.5 times more units of mercury than those in the EU.
Emissions of mercury and PM2.5 are just two of 24 substances that Mount Piper Power Station reports to the National Pollutant Inventory.
Environmental investigators say that pollution-reducing technology exists and is used widely around the world, but coal-fired power stations in Australia are allowed to operate at low standards.
It is known that air emissions travel up to 100 kilometres from power stations; Bathurst is less than 50km away.
We know there is no safe level of air pollution.
In our submission on setting standards in the future, we urged that best practice standards be set as the new pollution limits for NSW coal-fired power stations.
