Australia’s air quality has declined dramatically in the past decade and coal mining has been identified as the biggest source of harmful respiratory particles in the air, said a new federal government report released on Wednesday.
The National Pollutant Inventory report found that Queensland is the most polluted state in terms of the levels of particulate matter with eight of the nation’s top 10 particle emitting coal mines located in the Sunshine state.
The report found that particles of toxic material in the air including lead, arsenic and fluoride have increased by between 150 and 200 percent in the past 10 years.
Coal mining is identified as the leading source of particle pollution contributing 380,000 tonnes of the total 830,000 tonnes of tiny dust particles that can be breathed in, known as PM10, emitted nationally in 2012-13. Spokesperson for community group Clean Air Queensland Michael Kane said the report should sound an urgent warning bell on the need for greater controls on air pollution.
“Particle pollution contributes to a range of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses yet we have no national uniform legislation to protect the very air we breathe,” Kane said. “Even getting coal trains covered to reduce particle pollution has proved too difficult for our legislators and the dust from stockpiles of uncovered coal waiting for export blows freely over populated areas,” he said.
Coal mining is also a significant contributor to the levels of smaller particles, known as PM2.5. Coal burning for electricity generation is adding more toxic load to the burden of pollutants in the air.
Kane said most of the nation’s worst coal mine emitters are found in central Queensland in the Bowen Basin.
The Hunter region in New South Wales is the next biggest contributor to declining air quality with 53,000 tonnes of PM10 toxins emitted in 2012-13 in the Singleton area alone, 96 percent of this came directly from coal mining.
Hunter Valley regional coordinator for the Lock the Gate Alliance Steve Phillips criticized the government for lack of action in fighting against air pollution.
“The report found that motor vehicles collectively contributed 12,000 tonnes of these particulates every year, a figure dwarfed by the emissions from the coal industry,” Phillips said. “Our national standards need to be brought into state legislation and the standard acceptable limits for PM10 need to be brought into line with more stringent limits set by the World Health Organisation.”
The release of the data came just days after a Cleaning the Air report found that 3,000 Australians are dying every year as a direct result of air pollution.
