Economy
The Zombie Pulp Mill. Doctors’ warning
Last week (Thursday 27 Feb) we went to another Launceston Tailrace Centre meeting. (Sigh! And grin! And gee, there have been many such meetings, there and at other venues!) We heard GEOFF COUSINS (Businessman, environmentalist and author) and PEG PUTT, (Former leader of the Tasmanian Greens, CEO Markets for Change) address the meeting about the Pulp Mill and the past and recent business and legislative endeavors to take one corpse, stand it on its feet and make it walk, as if alive. The Zombie pulp mill.
We also heard from Vica Bayley, Kim Booth and Jeremy Ball. They were great! Tune in to the comment thread for some transcripts …
And if you’d permit me, I might make the observation that Cousins is one darned good communicator. Let me add the label ‘raconteur’. (See possible forthcoming thread comments). Peg Putt followed and proposed the following resolution:
“This meeting does not support the Tamar Valley pulp mill project because of its many unacceptable environmental impacts and the process by which our community was excluded from involvement in the assessment and approval. Critical non-compliance of the project with formal assessment requirements led to that process being dispensed with in 2007 and a legislated ‘fast track’ approval that also removed our rights was substituted.
We also strong oppose the most recent legislative intervention in Tasmania which in January 2014 lengthened the life of the Pulp Mill Permit, alleviated repercussions for failure to observe environmental conditions under the Permit and prevented a court case regarding the validity of the Permit from proceeding.
Further, the proposed pulp mill jeopardises other business and industry reliant on a clean unpolluted environment, thus hazarding existing and future employment and wealth creation in Tasmania.”
We don’t have to have a pulp mill to value add. We don’t need a zombie pulp mill … do we? Oops, just in case the powers that be haven’t got the message … WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN – NO PULP MILL!
• Dr David Strong and Dr James Markos, Doctors for the Environment Australia:
New evidence of the risks of air pollution puts an expiry date on the previous health assessment of a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley
Recent legislation passed by the Tasmanian Government has extended the permit to build a Pulp Mill in the Tamar Valley should the existing licence be sold. However, new evidence indicates its health permit has passed its use-by-date!
When the proposed mill was assessed in 2006-7, there were genuine concerns by local medical organizations about the potential health risks. These included small particle emissions, odour from sulfur emissions, additional road traffic from log truck operations and several other concerns.
A rise of fine particle pollution was confirmed to be expected from the detailed measurements of pollutants in the Tamar Valley and computer modelling of the likely additions from the proposed pulp mill. At the time, some believed that these were not likely to be harmful because the background particle pollution from wood smoke was falling and the particle pollution might meet national limit values.
Numerous scientific studies have been published since then about air pollution and its health effects. The recent report by WHO in October 2013 confirms that air pollution is a leading environmental cause for cancers of the lung and bladder. Tobacco smoking remains the main cause for lung cancer and it can also cause bladder cancer. The report also re-confirms that there is no safe threshold for exposure to fine particle pollution (PM2.5) and that “health benefits will result from any reduction of PM2.5 concentrations whether or not the current levels are above or below the limit values”.
Although the wood smoke particle pollution in the Tamar Valley has improved greatly in recent years, there are still some days with high concentrations in the winter months. This can cause immediate flare-ups in people with disorders of the lungs and heart. Any new industry creating large volume emissions into the Tamar Valley is likely to add to this pollution and hence we need caution and close scrutiny of potential risks.
In the light of past concerns and this new information, the previous assessment of the health risks of the proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley haspassed its use-by-date. Any future proposal to build a pulp mill should include a thorough assessment of health risks.
We call on all our political leaders to give a commitment to Tasmanians before the forthcoming election that the health risks of a pulp mill would be assessed before any further approval.
Written by Dr David Strong and Dr James Markos
On behalf of a dedicated group of Tasmanian health professionals.
The contents of this statement are supported by: Doctors for the Environment Australia
Download the supporting evidence:
WHO_Media_Release_17Oct2013.pdf
WHO_2013_Review_Health_Effects_of_Air_Pollution_e96762-final.pdf