Opponents of a new coal terminal have staged a protest rally in Newcastle to highlight concerns that extra coal dust will prove a health hazard to local residents.
Dozens of community groups attended Saturday's Stop T4 parade and rally against the fourth coal terminal proposed by Port Waratah Coal Services.
Coal Terminal Action Group (CTAG) spokeswoman Annika Dean said recent coal dust monitoring in suburbs close to coal trains and stockpiles found significantly higher levels than national standards.
"NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has so far failed to take responsibility for the unacceptable risks posed by T4 to community and environmental health," she said in a statement.
"It's time for the minister to hear our community, and to reject T4."
Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said the federal government was "up to its neck" in funding coal rail lines, giving a "leg-up that coal companies do not deserve".
"Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese is funding an empire of coal rail lines but closing his ears to the concerns of local residents."
Ms Rhiannon said the money would be better spent on clean, renewable energy projects.
Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, a member of CTAG's Dust and Health committee, said pollution from T4 would be a significant threat to public health.
"Most affected will be the 32,000 people living alongside the coal corridor from Newcastle Port to Rutherford, the 23,000 children attending Hunter schools within 500m of the coal rail and the 23,000 residents living within two kilometres of T4."
Nature Conservation Council of NSW spokeswoman Kate Smolski said a fourth terminal would double the volume of coal transported through Newcastle, with a corresponding increase in dust pollution.
It would also double mining development in the Hunter Valley, including up to fifteen new open cut coal mines, leading to the destruction of waterways and forests and loss of rich farmland, she said.
Comment was being sought from the state and federal governments.
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