[Greens-Media] Report confirms trucks making our kids sick - Hartland

[Adele.Pedder at parliament.vic.gov.au]

Greens MP Colleen Hartland has called on the government to initiate a 
health impact assessment of the inner West truck hotspot in response to a 
COAG report* released today linking truck exhaust with poor respiratory 
health in children. 

"Today’s COAG report confirms that diesel pollution affects children's 
respiratory health, and the higher the levels of exposure the worse the 
illness"  said  Colleen Hartland, Greens MP for the Western Suburbs.

"This report comes on the back of a recent World Health Organisation 
report declaring diesel exhaust a cancer-causing carcinogen and in the 
same category as passive smoking"

"2,000 trucks pass the fence of St Augustine’s Primary School school’s 
fence every day. Kids at Yarraville West Primary are exposed to the 
exhaust of 7,000 trucks every day which travel within 200 metres of their 
school.  Norfolk Street Child Care Centre is within 100 metres of the 
exhaust of 5,600 trucks every day. " 

"Would we put up with thousands of people smoking outside these schools? 
Definitely not."

"The inner West community is exposed to the pollution of more than 21,000 
trucks every single day and the evidence is piling up that it's making us 
sick."

"Inner West streets, home to schools, kindergartens and child care 
centres, have been turned into truck super-highways"

"The government needs to admit that trucks need to get off residential 
streets today, or undertake an investigation to prove otherwise".

"It's been three months since the minister stated he was going to respond 
to the WHO report on cancer yet we've heard nothing.  In these three 
months children at Yarraville West Primary School and Norfolk Street Child 
care centre have been exposed to the exhaust of more than half a million 
trucks".

"The health of children is at risk, something the government cannot 
ignore".

For comment: Colleen Hartland 0417 445 845


 * AUSTRALIAN CHILD HEALTH AND AIR POLLUTION STUDY (ACHAPS). Available at 
http://scew.gov.au/ 
The Australian Child Health and Air Pollution Study (ACHAPS) was conducted 
by researchers from University of Queensland and Woolcock Institute of 
Medical Research and funded by the Australian Research Council and the 
COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water. 


More information on the WHO report and inner West truck problem: "Action 
needed on diesel cancer link"  

********************************************************

Adele Pedder

Electorate Officer
Greens MP Colleen Hartland 
Ph: 9689 6373. Mob: 0422 108 539
colleenhartland.org
75 Victoria Street Seddon 3011
 


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Parliament of Victoria                                                                                                                    . 
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