MEDIA RELEASE National Pollutant Inventory: 5-year audit shows little change to coal-fired power station pollution, while 4000 people die prematurely from exposure A five-year audit of Australia’s most comprehensive pollution data highlights inaction on toxic air pollution from coal-fired power stations, despite an estimated 4000 premature deaths from exposure. …
NEWS RELEASE Concerns have escalated over the rehabilitation of AGL’s Loy Yang power station after the company announced a demerger that carves off coal-fired power stations into a separate corporate…
MEDIA RELEASE 18 March, 2021 NSW government’s Clean Air Strategy fails to reduce pollution, after five years in the making After five years in the making, the NSW government today released a draft Clean Air Strategy…
Communities across NSW are demanding the Berejiklian government combats toxic air pollution and protects people’s health with the release of The People’s Clean Air Action Plan. Tired of government inaction, particularly toxic pollution from…
Victorian communities are demanding the Andrews government combat toxic air pollution and protect people’s health with the release of The People’s Clean Air Action Plan. Tired of government inaction, particularly toxic pollution from coal-fired power…
MEDIA RELEASE Communities across NSW and Victoria are demanding the Berejiklian and Andrews governments combat toxic air pollution and protect people’s health with the release of The People’s Clean Air Action Plan. Tired of government inaction, a coalition of community groups, environmental lawyers, health professionals and international regulatory experts came together…
Environmental lawyers challenge EPA and EnergyAustralia in VCAT over pollution control at Yallourn Power Station Environmental lawyers have launched legal proceedings in a bid to uncover documents about the operations and maintenance of EnergyAustralia’s pollution…
Vales Point: EPA’s paltry fine sends signal that public health is worth less than corporate welfare Legal and policy experts at Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) warn that government must prioritise public safety over corporate welfare, as yesterday the EPA announced fining Delta Electricity a mere $30,000 for waste offences at Vales Point coal-burning power station. EJA lawyers say Delta has been inadequately penalised for the offences, which have resulted in land pollution. This is a negligible sum for the privately-owned power station, valued at $750 million, especially given this week’s news that taxpayers are funding a multimillion-dollar upgrade to the ageing power station, without specifying air pollution controls. In 2018, a large stockpile of asbestos and other waste was documented across a 30,000 square metre area at the station’s coal ash dump, situated between Mannering Lake and Lake Macquarie water catchments. The breach has received only a paltry fine, and a final clean-up notice has not yet been issued for the remainder of the dumped material on the site. Due to close in nine years, Vales Point coal-burning power station is reportedly earmarked for several million dollars in government grants for new turbines and high-pressure heaters. But lawyers warn that Vales Point already emits pollutant concentrations that dramatically exceed limits set by comparable countries due to inadequate pollution controls. Vales Point also enjoys an exemption from the stricter oxides of nitrogen standards applicable to other NSW coal burners. These factors must be addressed to protect the public from exposure. Jocelyn McGarity, lawyer at EJA, said: “For decades, Centra Coast communities living next to Vales Point coal-burning power station have raised concerns about the health impacts of coal pollution, including poorly managed coal ash dumps. “These ash dumps, even before being filled with asbestos as in the case of Vales Point, are loaded with dangerous heavy metals that can leach into local waterways like Lake Macquarie and pose a significant threat to the local community. “This paltry fine for serious environmental breaches is unlikely to materially affect Delta’s bottom line, and so will not be a disincentive to pollute. “It’s disappointing to note that although the EPA recently amended its Prosecution Guidelines to include the consideration of human health and environmental justice principles, it has obviously given these factors little weight in deciding not to prosecute Delta. Had the EPA taken legal action, the maximum penalty available for each breach was two million dollars. “Delta clearly failed to have adequate systems and procedures in place to safeguard the community and environment from asbestos waste. Because of that, there’s now a compounding of environmental issues at the ash dam. “The fact that the Morrison Government is seriously considering handing over millions of dollars of public money to prop up this ageing, failing power station when it continues to harm community health and breach environmental laws is frankly appalling. “Instead of rewarding these industries with public funds to operate for longer, governments must urgently move to address the serious flaws in our regulatory system. Our EPAs should be empowered with stronger national pollution standards which would make sure these power stations have proper pollution controls on their smoke stacks and ash dams to protect community health.” Background Australia’s coal-burning power stations rank among Australia’s biggest sources of pollution, with ambient air pollution exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended thresholds. Australia’s pollution standards lag significantly behind most other countries, including China, the United States and the European Union. Such poor regulatory control of toxic pollution from coal-burning power stations including Vales Point has deadly consequence. Collectively, these stations cause approximately 800 premature deaths, 14,500 asthma attacks and 850 cases of babies born with low birth weight every year, according to a peer-reviewed report published last month. The report finds 2.1 million Australians are exposed to toxic pollutants from coal-burning power stations. Last month a team of volunteer actuaries modelled the economic cost of the health impacts of air pollution from Australia’s coal-fired power, finding that the health bill last year alone amounted to $2.4 billion on conservative estimates. Further information: Unearthing Australia’s toxic coal ash legacy Costs of Negative Health Outcomes Arising from Air Pollution from Coal-Fired Power Stations Toxic and terminal: How the regulation of coal-burning power stations fails Australian communities Lethal Power: how coal is killing people in Australia The health burden of coal-burning power in NSW National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) Strengthening national air pollution standards to protect public health Expert Position Statement on health-based standards for Australian regulated thresholds of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone in ambient air Australian coal-power allowable pollution would be illegal in US, Europe and China – report
‘Inconsistent, unreliable and of limited utility’: Australia’s air pollution data condemned by experts, ignored by regulators Double standards, legal loopholes and ‘unexplained’ errors in Australia’s air pollution data are preventing…
NEWS RELEASE Double standards, legal loopholes and ‘unexplained’ errors in Australia’s air pollution data are preventing communities from accessing reliable information about the poor quality air they’re breathing. Analysis by…
Environmental lawyers warn Bayswater coal ash dump expansion cannot proceed until coal ash inquiry is complete, as hearings begin Environmental lawyers are calling for the NSW Environment Minister to pause the assessment process for the coal ash dump expansion at AGL’s Bayswater power station until the outcomes of the coal ash inquiry are known,…
MEDIA RELEASE Environmental lawyers are calling for the NSW Environment Minister to pause the assessment process for the coal ash dump expansion at AGL’s Bayswater power station until the outcomes of the coal ash inquiry are known, as hearings begin today. Recommendations from the NSW Parliament’s Inquiry into…
Australians pay a deadly $2.4 billion health bill for coal-fired power Coal-fired power stations’ failure to install life-saving pollution controls costs Australians around $2.4 billion in health costs annually, warn actuaries, economists and lawyers. In a new report released today, a team of volunteer actuaries modelled the economic cost of the health…
NEWS RELEASE Coal-fired power stations’ failure to install life-saving pollution controls costs Australians around $2.4 billion in health costs annually, warn actuaries, economists and lawyers. In a new report released today, a team of volunteer actuaries modelled the economic cost of the health…
‘Pollution doesn’t stop for COVID — legislation shouldn’t either’: Victorians pay with their health as Andrews government stalls regulation Lawyers and community groups are urging the Victorian government to immediately revoke its delay of the state’s Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018, due to…
EPA flouts its own recommendations as it licences power stations to keep polluting at current levels Vales Point exemption from NOx limits expires in January 2022. New licence will require Vales Point to install low NOx burners to one…
MEDIA RELEASE Upper Hunter communities have been forced to pursue legal advice as the New South Wales government curtails residents’ attempts to investigate and regulate the region’s air pollution levels. …
NSW Government curtails community access to air pollution data as it deems Upper Hunter Valley a ‘non-region’ Upper Hunter communities have been forced to pursue legal advice as the New South…
Community group secures a win for the environment in legal case over Laverton waste-to-energy plant Community group Zero Waste Victoria has secured better air quality, waste management, monitoring and reporting for Victorians in a legal…
MEDIA RELEASE A coalition of health, environment and community groups has made a legal complaint to the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority calling for the body to investigate alleged breaches of the law by Delta Electricity after Vales Point power station reported huge increases in dangerous particle pollution, despite producing less…
MEDIA RELEASE A coalition of health, environment and community groups has made a legal complaint to the Victorian Environment Protection Authority calling for the body to investigate alleged breaches of the law by EnergyAustralia after Yallourn power station reported huge increases in dangerous particle pollution, despite producing less…
MEDIA RELEASE Analysis of just released data from the National Pollutant Inventory reveals coal-fired power stations are Australia’s biggest polluters once again with a number of power stations reporting significant increases in some of the most toxic pollutants. Coal-fired…
MEDIA RELEASE An independent committee’s decision to reject a bid to use funding intended for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prop up coal-fired power stations has been welcomed by Environmental Justice Australia. The Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee…
MEDIA RELEASE New research revealing the health impacts of smoke pollution from the catastrophic summer bushfires shows the need for action to address existing air pollution, according law and policy…
MEDIA RELEASE Environmental lawyers have launched legal proceedings in a bid to uncover documents about the operations and maintenance of EnergyAustralia’s pollution control technology at Yallourn Power Station in the…
MEDIA RELEASE The Morrison Government’s plan to keep NSW’s ageing Liddell Power Station open until 2026 won’t just cost taxpayers millions – it will also cost lives, according to lawyers…
MEDIA RELEASE The Morrison Government’s plan to keep NSW’s ageing Liddell Power Station open until 2026 won’t just cost taxpayers millions – it will also cost lives, according to lawyers…
MEDIA RELEASE 3 October 2019 Authors of groundbreaking research into toxic coal ash waste in Australia are welcoming an Upper House Inquiry into coal ash waste, launched yesterday by the…
Read our joint statement of support for the union movement on a fair and just energy transition in Australia.
MEDIA RELEASE New research released today reveals communities across the country are at serious risk from poorly managed coal ash waste – the toxic by-product of coal-fired power that accounts…
MEDIA RELEASE This year’s National Pollutant Inventory reveals soaring toxic emissions from coal-fired power stations and highlights the need for our ageing fleet of generators to be fitted with readily…
Peter Hannam, SMH A Labor government in NSW would expand national parks to protect koalas, curb feral horses, and step up climate change action including setting a target to source…
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has renewed the five-year licence without significant change to pollution controls at Delta Electricity’s Vales Point Power Station at Mannering Park. The licence renewal…
A report by Dr Ben Ewald for Doctors for the Environment Australia. Particle air pollution in New South Wales is getting worse, with the annual averages for both fine and…
By Pheobe Maloney NSW Labor’s energy spokesperson Adam Searle says Labor would direct the Environment Protection Authority to review the licences of the state’s five coal-fired power plants if the…
Media Release Victoria’s Labor Government is under pressure to crack down on air pollution from coal-fired power stations after the Labor Opposition in NSW announced a 10 year plan to…
Media Release Pressure is now on the Berejiklian government to tighten power station pollution licences to protect human health after State Labor pledged to review emissions standards to “ensure they…
By Peter Hannam A Daley Labor government would review the emissions standards of all NSW’s coal-fired power plants and finalise a 10-year plan to improve air quality in the state….
OPEN LETTER 30 January 2019 Dear Premier Berejiklian CC Leader of the Opposition, Michael Daley The NSW EPA has just concluded its review of pollution licences for three of the…
MEDIA RELEASE 30 January 2019 The NSW Environment Protection Authority has again given coal-fired power stations a licence to harm communities with toxic coal pollution after a disappointing decision to…
The NSW EPA completed the licence reviews for 3 NSW coal-fired power stations, Vales Point, Mt Piper and Eraring on the 23rd of January, 2019 and determined the licences would…
By Joanne McCarthy COAL ash with elevated heavy metal levels could have left AGL’s Bayswater and Liddell power station sites since 2015, breaching environmental orders and ramping up calls for…
THERE is no doubt that when the NSW Environment Protection Authority issued a clean-up notice to Delta Electricity in October, after suspected asbestos and other demolition material was found at…
By Joanne McCarthy THE state’s environmental watchdog has been slammed after suspected asbestos waste and a “large stockpile” of demolition waste was found across a 30,000 square metre area at…
A public forum on the ‘Health impacts of coal-fired power stations in NSW’ was held on Wednesday, November 28 at Uniting Church Parish Hall. Speakers at the forum included Dr…
Publicly available air quality monitoring should be conducted at Wyee, a community with an aging coal-fired power station, but with no current air monitoring, according to a new report into…
By Peter Hannam Air pollution from NSW’s five coal-fired power stations carry a “substantial health burden”, including leading to an estimated 279 deaths a year with thousands more to come…
An independent study released today has found that air pollution produced by New South Wales coal-fired power stations cause 279 deaths in the state every year. The study of the…
By Matthew Kelly A 2016 NSW EPA compliance report on Vales Point power station’s ash dam highlights numerous concerns about ongoing problems with the management of contaminated wastewater. Yet two…
By Peter Hannam Pollution controls for major coal-fired power stations in NSW are so weak that they are comparable to “fairly under-developed third world countries”, a US energy expert says….
By Australian Associated Press Pollution from coal-fired power plants in Victoria’s east is higher than acceptable according to international experts, as the environment authority reviews operating licences. Emissions of sulphur…
Three US experts have slammed the Victorian EPA’s approach to the regulation of the Latrobe Valley coal-fired power stations. Modelling found emissions of sulfur dioxide from Victoria’s power stations were…
Read EJA’s final submission to EPA Victoria review of brown coal power stations licences (September 2018) Read the expert reports used in the final submission: Dr Ron Sahu Dr Andrew…
By Joanne McCarthy THE NSW Government should reject a planned upgrade of Bayswater power station until owner AGL installs air pollution reduction technology that is standard in America, Europe, China and…
By Phoebe Moloney The NSW Environment Protection Authority has signalled it will be altering Mt Piper’s licence to bring it up to standard with the air pollution requirements placed on all other coal fired…
MEDIA RELEASE 14 August 2018 Delta Electricity, the company that said it wants to build a ‘Hazelwood replacement’ coal-fired power station, has a ‘bad neighbour’ reputation because of the toxic…
Newcastle Herald editorial THE Australian Government’s Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that 3000 Australians each year die because of urban air pollution, with the health costs from mortality alone…
By Joanne McCarthy AUSTRALIA needs a national pollution watchdog with “teeth” after two decades of pollution monitoring by the states that has failed to protect the environment and the community, a 20-year…
By Christine McKee STANWELL Power Station was in the direct line of fire at two community forums in Rockhampton and Gladstone last week, where organisers said Central Queenslanders were being…
By Heidi Kraak A Latrobe Valley environmentalist and an Environmental Justice Australia lawyer have expressed concerns around potentially toxic ash which could be produced by the burning of municipal waste…
While Queensland members of the Liberal and National parties push for the federal government to build new coal-fired power stations, experts warn it could put communities at risk of increased…
Environmental Justice Australia has urged the nation’s politicians to remember the serious health impacts of coal-fired power before flirting with plans for new coal power stations. Air pollution researcher Dr…
By Joanne McCarthy THERE are calls for Upper Hunter coal mines to be temporarily shut down when air quality is hazardous to human health after a NSW Government review found…
By Heidi Kraak A community advocate has welcomed the inclusion of a clause in an environmental protection bill before the Victorian Parliament that would allow the community to enforce pollution…
The Victorian government has released an Air Quality Statement, which ‘kicks off engagement with all Victorians about what our priorities for future air quality management should be’. Read EJA’s submission…
MEDIA RELEASE 21 June 2018 Environmental Justice Australia and Environment Victoria have welcomed the introduction to the Victorian Parliament of the Environment Protection Bill, in particular the inclusion of a legal right…
By Giselle Wakatama , Annabelle Regan and Ben Millington Plans for a $5 billion coal terminal in the world’s biggest coal port in Newcastle have been scrapped. The huge investment to expand Newcastle’s coal export…
By Peter Hannam The $5 billion-plus Terminal 4 coal export expansion planned for Newcastle has been scrapped after demand for the fossil fuel failed to increase as expected. Port Waratah Coal…
By Ian Kirkwood and Matthew Kelly PORT Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) has formally cancelled the controversial T4 coal loader, putting a final end to a project that had been in…
By Bryce Eishold Concerns surrounding toxic coal ash ponds have been raised in a supplementary submission by Environmental Justice Australia as part of the EPA’s review into the region’s brown…
By Joanne McCarthy LIDDELL and Bayswater coal-fired power stations were granted exemptions in 2017 to nearly double allowable nitrous oxide pollution despite levels of the toxic emissions in the Hunter…
By Ben Millington The ageing Liddell power station is allowed to emit nearly three times the amount of toxic nitrogen oxide that is accepted as world’s best practice, according to…
By Louise Nichols Environmental Justice Australia and the Construction Forestry Energy and Mining Union (CFMEU) have welcomed AGL’s decision to turn down Alinta’s offer for the Liddell power station. AGL’s Board told…
By Dominica Sanda, AAP NSW’s Liddell power station has been allowed to emit almost double the level of nitrogen oxides a plant of its age would normally be limited to,…
By Joanne McCarthy POWER generator AGL Macquarie was granted an exemption in 2017 to emit toxic nitrogen oxides from Liddell power station at up to 14 times international best practice levels despite…
By Peter Hannam The Liddell coal-fired power station was granted a special exemption allowing it to pump out toxic nitrous oxides at almost twice the rate allowed similarly aged plants,…
MEDIA RELEASE 21 May 2018 AGL’s Liddell power station has been granted an exemption from NSW air pollution regulations and emits toxic oxides of nitrogen (NOx) at up to 14…
MEDIA RELEASE 21 May 2018 Environmental Justice Australia has welcomed AGL’s decision to turn down Alinta’s offer for the Liddell power station. AGL’s Board today told the Australian Stock Exchange…
By Louise Nichols A face to face meeting between senior state bureaucrats and community advocates to discuss worsening air pollution in the Upper Hunter highlighted the need for a regional…
Read EJA’s submission to the Interim Targets Independent Expert Panel examining Victoria’s climate change targets 2021-2030: EJA submission Victoria Interim Target Independent Expert Panel final (184KB)
MEDIA RELEASE 7 May 2018 The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority has recommended stricter and more consistent pollution licences for the state’s five coal-fired power stations following a review…
By Peter Hannam The state’s five coal-fired power stations are allowed “unnecessary variation” in their pollution and operate “well below” licensed limits, providing scope for more consistent and tighter controls, the…
Given the known failures of carbon capture and storage – and given that the federal government has lost millions of taxpayers’ dollars to CCS already – investing in such technologies…
Little attention is paid to the legacy contamination risks posed by ash waste from coal-fired power stations. Ash ponds, or ‘ash dumps’, are a neglected aspect of the coal combustion…
By Joanne McCarthy THE NSW Department of Planning will start “unannounced” night-time inspections of Hunter coal mines after years of community dust complaints – and has issued a media release to let…
By Mark Rayner Lithgow residents should be concerned the owners of Mt Piper power station and the NSW government are failing to accurately measure pollution data, an environmental legal expert…
By Andrew Thorpe NEW DATA from the National Pollutant Inventory shows Gladstone’s fine particle emissions remain at concerningly high levels, according to environmental researchers. The data relies on self-reporting by…
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