By David Marchese
Posted
Hunter Valley residents are urging a Senate Committee investigating air quality impacts across Australia to hold some of its hearings in the mining affected region.
More than 80 submissions have been made to a Senate probe into the impacts of air quality on health in Australia.
Many of those were from Hunter Valley residents and organisations who are urging the Senate Committee to come to the region to hear from communities who have been complaining about the issue for years.
While Upper Hunter locals have flagged dust from nearby mining operations, those living in Maitland and Newcastle say their concerns are with uncovered coal train wagons that are constantly moving through the valley.
A Gloucester doctor says there is too much focus on PM (Particulate Matter) 10 and not enough scrutiny of the finer PM 2.5 levels.
Lake Macquarie City Council has also raised particulate matter as an issue, saying financial assistance needs to be provided to local governments to address air quality issues.
A former Upper Hunter resident says she noticed an intensity in air pollution around Muswellbrook between 1993 and 2012.
"Being concerned about what might be in that air, we had a hair analysis done in 2009," she wrote.
"We were alarmed when the result came back high in a number of toxic elements."
The woman says the health impacts of mining contributed to her decision to move away from the area last year.
The coal industry has also weighed in, with a global mining giant saying air quality is managed inconsistently across Australia and monitoring often occurs in urban areas dominated by combustion sources like cars and power generation
Rio Tinto operates three coal mines in New South Wales and is one of the Hunter's biggest coal producers.
The company's submission also calls for other sources of particulate matter to be considered when assessing air quality, including sea salt.
"Sea salt can, for example, be a significant contributor to recorded particulate matter emissions," the company said.
"ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) presented contributions of sea salt to PM 2.5 concentrations... as far away from the coast as the Hunter Valley."
But not everyone is pointing the finger at the mining industry, with one former Singleton resident saying an abundance of dried grass is responsible for air quality problems that existed long before coal mines were established.
The committee is yet to announce where it will hold its hearings but Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has said he believes it is likely there will be one in the Hunter.
Topics: air-pollution, health, muswellbrook-2333, newcastle-2300, awaba-2283, teralba-2284, maitland-2320, gloucester-2422, singleton-2330
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