Isaac Regional Council has resolved not to let the dust settle on growing community concern in relation to air quality in Moranbah and other resource communities in the region.
Mayor Anne Baker said Council would be reconvening the Moranbah Cumulative Impacts Group and expanding its charter to encompass air quality in towns regionwide.
“As a community we are very mindful of the impacts of dust and particulate matter on people’s health and wellbeing, not just on those workers at the coalface,” she said.
“Air quality in Moranbah and other Isaac towns is largely influenced by dust generated from mining operations. That is the reality of extracting the resources which generate more than $4.6 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in royalties for Queensland.
“But the effects of that activity on local communities needs to be monitored and managed and we are refocusing our efforts in this space.”
Mayor Baker said the Moranbah Cumulative Impacts Group, which comprised stakeholders from council, community, industry, government and academia, had been largely responsible for the introduction of a comprehensive air quality monitoring program several years ago.
“The air quality monitors installed throughout Moranbah township were a direct outcome of this group. The data collected by these stations are updated hourly and available online to the community,” she said.
“However, this data is only meaningful if it is monitored, analysed and acted upon by operators and government.”
“Community concern in relation to air quality, particularly with the upswing in resource sector activity regionwide, underpins the case to reconvene the Moranbah Cumulative Impacts Group, with the first order of business to extend its remit to include all Isaac resources communities.”
Mayor Baker said all extractive operations were required to manage dust within their sites as part of their environment approvals, however, Council’s concern was about the wider downstream effects of dust creation.
“Moranbah, particularly, is surrounded by mines and quarries so the impact of dust from all these sites is cumulative on the township,” she said.
“We are also calling on the resources industry and the Queensland Government, as the responsible authority for monitoring and enforcing environmental compliance at mines and quarries, to take heed of town-based data and take all necessary steps to mitigate the dust levels.”
