[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Premier's Pulp Mill Health Claim Difficulty_K Booth MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

PREMIER IN TROUBLE OVER PULP MILL HEALTH CLAIM

Unable To Produce Data To Support His Position

Kim Booth MP
Greens Pulp Mill spokesperson

Thursday, 27 August 2009
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today said that Premier David  Bartlett was in real
trouble over a position he took a year ago when he stated in Parliament,
that if the pulp will was in any way a threat to the health of the
people of the Tamar Valley he would not support it; as evidence from the
Resource Planning and Development Commission's (RPDC) own documents
stated that health risks were probable.

On August 27 2008 the Premier stated in parliament "If I believed based
on the science that this pulp mill...provided a threat to the health and
wellbeing of the people of Tasmania and the Tamar valley, I would not
support it.  That is a fact..."

Greens Pulp Mill spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that research undertaken
by RPDC consultants' UniQuest spelled serious trouble for the Premier's
stance, as not only did they find that there were so many uncertainties
around the lack of data provided by Gunns that air borne pollution could
not be estimated, but the report further stated that there were already
health problems in George Town, probably caused by air pollution and the
Pulp Mill would add to this pollution.

"In Parliament today, self-proclaimed data driven Premier Bartlett,
could produce no evidence that supports his position that the Gunns Pulp
Mill will have no impact on the health of the residents of the Tamar
Valley," Mr Booth said.

"A year ago today the Premier said in Parliament that if the Pulp Mill
could be shown to have negative impacts on health he'd withdraw his
support; yet when I produced documents from the RPDC's own consultants
that raised serious health questions about air pollution from the pulp
mill impacting on the health of people in George Town, Premier Bartlett
had no answers."

"The AMA don't support this pulp mill because of likely health impacts;
it has a chemical factory attached to it and a wood fired power station
that will burn 500 000 tonnes of green timber per year and 1 million
tonnes of toxic black liquor and the RPDC's independent consultants say
it will add to air pollution in George Town where people are already
suffering."

"The ball is now firmly in the Premier's court."

"If he says the pulp mill won't affect the health of the people of the
Tamar Valley then he has to prove it and at the moment the evidence is
mounting against him."

"The Greens believe this pulp mill will impact on residents' health and
we will be turning up the heat on the premier on this issue and if he
can't produce the evidence that it is not a health risk then he has to
withdraw his support for the mill as he stated he would."




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