Tasmanian EPA air monitoring staff are some of the best at their job and travelled to Morwell in Victoria to conduct air monitoring at the height of the Hazelwood coal mine fire.(Latrobe Valley Express, Feb 27 2014 here) One air specialist was quoted as saying, “This isn’t good, we shouldn’t be breathing this.”
Some 2.16GB of air quality data was collected in and around Morwell.
Despite attempts to have this information released under Right to Information ( here ) and through an Ombudsman review this will not happen in time for the Hazelwood Mine Fire Board of Inquiry led by Justice Bernard Teague AO.
Although the RTI application went in in good time, the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry, Parks, Water, and Environment (DPIPWE) was in breach of the Act timewise,but now the Acting Tasmanian Ombudsman (Mr Richard Connock) has statedhe will not expedite the review.
There are 15 reviews ahead of this one and the Ombudsman will not give a time for its completion, but in any case he says it will not meet the deadline before the Inquiry final report and recommendations are presented to the Victorian Government in August.
The people of Morwell and surrounding areas deserve better than this. They were exposed to shocking levels of pernicious smoke and are now being prevented from finding out the true story about their air quality.
What are Inquiries for? Why do we have enacted legislation in Tasmania?
EPA Victoria tried to prevent the release of NEPM air quality exceedance days and levels but was unsuccessful thanks to cleanairtas. Now Tasmania is going down the same path with the mobile air monitoring data.
All this information has just been sitting on someone’s desk here in Tasmania for months now because I believe someone does not want it released before the Inquiry closes.I feel there can be no other reason.
Read the process that was followed to have the mobile air quality data and information from Morwell released; without success. Go here to one of my cleanairtas pages…
http://cleanairtas.com/air-monitoring/morwell-coal-fire.html
Scroll down until you get to:
Ombudsman says no to expedite delayed release of air quality information for inclusion in a submission to the Hazelwood Board of Inquiry
