Economy
This is just plain wrong. Why is it allowed to continue?
My name is Prue Barratt and I live in Maydena in the Derwent Valley.
I’m writing this to highlight what small towns around this state have to deal with in Autumn and Winter.
Today (Wed) started off as a spectacular crisp winter’s day; one of a few really beautiful days we get through our colder months.
So I was excited to get outside for the day to enjoy the sun.
But by the time I organised myself to venture out it was too late … as I opened my front door I was confronted by smoke … it was literally blowing in my door.
I covered my nose and stepped out to see what was going on and realised there were fires right around our little town; not one fire but a two or maybe three, I couldn’t actually see how many because I couldn’t see and I could hardly breath, I stepped back inside, grabbed the camera, and took the pictures above; this was the view from my roof … 360 degrees surrounded by smoke.
It was one of the worst smoke-outs I had experienced whilst living here and by the time I got back inside I reeked of smoke.
This is just plain wrong. It is the 21st century on a planet that is worried about carbon pollution!
Our leaders need to put an end to these archaic practices now. There is no need to subject communities or the environment in general to this kind off filthy practice.
Tasmania already has one of the country’s highest rates of asthma allergies and lung problems.
Why is this allowed to continue?
Tassie is supposed to be the “Clean Green State”.
I’m pretty sure the tourist bus loaded with people which crawled through town didn’t think it was a clean green state.
I’m pretty sure they were horrified that this happens in a supposed developed country every year.
When your eyes are stinging and you are too scared to open the doors of your home because your house will become unbearably flooded with smoke; when you are concerned for the wellbeing of old and frail family members because you just can’t get away from it unless you completely pack up and leave for the night …
You feel like a prisoner in your own home … in country in this day and age..
There is a serious problem!
Postscript: I just needed to add to my article that Three Norske Skog employees just turned up on my doorstep and apologised for all the smoke. They weren’t burning coupes but were asked by a couple of locals to burn piles close to their houses; most of the coupes were already burnt earlier in the season, so I need to acknowledge that … but the whole burning off thing needs to stop regardless. They said they were looking into alternatives but it needs to stop now; not later. They have had long enough to change the way they do things … at our expense.
• WHERE THERE’S NORSKE SKOG’S SMOKE, THERE’S IRE – AT MAYDENA
Maydena Residents’ Furious At Smoke Pollution
Tim Morris MP
Greens Treasury spokesperson
Friday 15 June 2012
The Tasmanian Greens today said that residents in and around Maydena deserved better than the intense smoke pollution from commercial forestry burn-offs that they were subjected to this week.
Greens Member for Lyons Tim Morris MP said that Norske Skog was responsible for burning forest waste close to Maydena, and did so without any warning to residents.
“There are alternatives to simply torching unwanted commercial forest by-products and subjecting residents to noxious smoke pollution,” said Mr Morris.
“Norske Skog is FSC certified, and one of the requirements of this certification is to move to disposing of commercial forest waste in ways other than burning it. One way that is far more responsible and land-friendly is mulching this material.”
“This practice has simply got to stop. It puts people’s health at risk and every time the state is swathed in commercial forestry smoke, our valuable ‘clean, green,’ brand is diluted just a little bit more.”
“Some residents actually pack up and leave their houses when the smoke pollution gets this bad. It’s not right.”
“Report after report adds to the growing body of evidence of the untoward impact on human health of exposure to smoke, especially for young and old people.”
“Earlier this year, UTAS Professor David Bowman, from the UTAS School of Plant Science, was reported saying that the commercial forestry industry was not trying hard enough to find alternatives.”
“Research by Prof Bowman and Menzies Research Institute Tasmania research fellow Fay Johnston found that pollution from landscape fires contributed to 339,000 deaths worldwide between 1997 and 2006. That includes Tasmania, and the Greens strongly believe Tasmania must free itself from this smoke taint and end commercial forestry burn offs.”
“Norske Skog was an ‘early adapter’ to FSC certification, so you would expect it to know better than to use the public space as a dumping ground for its commercial enterprises.”
“It should also have known that attempting to burn forest waste at this time of year is highly likely to have this unacceptable result.”
“We’re all better off when this Neanderthal practice stops and disposing of forest by-products is done far more responsibly. The future’s bright without forestry’s smoke pollution,” said Mr Morris.