[Greens-Media] Sydney’s shameful air quality problem

[Claire ORourke]

Media Release							12 September 2006

Sydney’s shameful air quality problem

Revelations that air pollution in Sydney is contributing to as many as 1400 deaths every year is a shameful record for a supposed world-class city, said Greens Upper House MPs Ian Cohen and Sylvia Hale.

“Sydney’s poor air quality is deadly. The victims are asthmatics and those suffering from chronic respiratory and cardio-vascular conditions,” said Mr Cohen.

“The fact that ultra-fine particles are not measured by the authorities means there is no way of knowing exactly what we are inhaling and what damage poor air quality may be doing to our bodies.

“It is shocking that the air we breathe every day in Sydney is also contributing to lung cancer deaths, and little is being done by the New South Wales Government to fix the problem.

“The Government has failed to put in place a comprehensive monitoring regime to assess the health effects of air pollution while it continues to allow polluting industries to monitor themselves,” Ms Hale said.

“In one telling example, I questioned NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus and senior bureaucrats at a budget estimates committee hearing last week about the lack of independent monitoring of air pollution from the Alcoa aluminium recycling plant at Yennora,” she said.

“Department of Environment and Conservation Director General Ms Lisa Corbyn, conceded that industries ‘do the monitoring and then report the information to us’.

“The Government has also failed to measure the immediate health impacts of putting more cars and trucks on Sydney’s roads.

“The Greens sparked this inquiry into the health impacts of air pollution in the Sydney basin. What will it take for the Iemma Government to take the lead in solving this deadly problem?”  Ms Hale said.

Further Information: Claire O’Rourke 0409 810 139 or 9230 3305