Almost all of Australia’s most polluting industries are located in low-income areas, according to new research by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The report looks at pollution from emitters including coal-fired power stations as well as mining, refineries and manufacturing and finds the country’s five most polluted areas are the Hunter Valley in NSW, the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Mount Isa in Queensland and Newman and Collie in WA.
The environment group used data from the national pollution inventory and matched it to bureau of statistics data on postcodes and income levels.
Coal-fired power stations are the largest pollution emitters in three of the areas while mining operations create the most emissions in the other two.
“Air pollution kills around 3,000 Australians every year and worsens conditions such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory diseases,” said Matthew Rose, the economics program manager for ACF.
It comes amid calls for new laws to limit the amount of toxic air pollution from coal-fired power stations in New South Wales after environment groups raised concerns they are allowed to emit higher levels of pollution than in the EU and China.
The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Cate Faehrmann, has introduced a bill that would bring regulations for the state’s five power stations into line with standards in the EU.
The NSW Greens proposal for new pollution limits would apply to coal-fired power stations.
It follows a submission from Environmental Justice Australia to a review of the environmental protection licences for the Eraring, Mount Piper and Vales Point power stations that drew attention to the “extraordinarily high pollution limits” for NSW stations.
The report looks at pollution from emitters including coal-fired power stations as well as mining, refineries and manufacturing and finds the country’s five most polluted areas are the Hunter Valley in NSW, the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Mount Isa in Queensland and Newman and Collie in WA.
The environment group used data from the national pollution inventory and matched it to bureau of statistics data on postcodes and income levels.
Coal-fired power stations are the largest pollution emitters in three of the areas while mining operations create the most emissions in the other two.
“Air pollution kills around 3,000 Australians every year and worsens conditions such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory diseases,” said Matthew Rose, the economics program manager for ACF.
It comes amid calls for new laws to limit the amount of toxic air pollution from coal-fired power stations in New South Wales after environment groups raised concerns they are allowed to emit higher levels of pollution than in the EU and China.
The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Cate Faehrmann, has introduced a bill that would bring regulations for the state’s five power stations into line with standards in the EU.
The NSW Greens proposal for new pollution limits would apply to coal-fired power stations.
It follows a submission from Environmental Justice Australia to a review of the environmental protection licences for the Eraring, Mount Piper and Vales Point power stations that drew attention to the “extraordinarily high pollution limits” for NSW stations.
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