Wyee sulfur dioxide levels exceed World Health Organisation level six times
A Central Coast suburb has recorded levels of sulfur dioxide above World Health Organisation standards six times in one year and the finger has been pointed at the nearby power station.
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Sulphur-dioxide levels in the air at Wyee on the Central Coast exceeded World Health Organisation recommended levels six times in 2018, new analysis shows.
The Nature Conservation Council (NCC) has released data showing daily average concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the suburb have climbed sharply in the past three years from one exceedence in 2016 to two in 2017 and six in 2018.
The NCC has pointed the finger at Vales Point power station, which is about a kilometre from Wyee, and warns high sulfur dioxide levels pose serious health risks including low birth weight in newborns, respiratory disease and premature deaths.
The Australian standard for sulfur dioxide is 11 times weaker than the WHO recommendation. According to the NCC the state and federal environment ministers are moving to tighten Australia’s SO2 specification but this is still 2.5 times weaker than the WHO’s.
Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said people deserved to breathe clean air as a basic human right.
“Our state and federal governments must strengthen air pollution standards to match the WHO and make the owners of coal power stations clean up their act,” Mr Gambian said.
“Big businesses that run coal power plants like Vales Point have been dumping millions of tonnes of pollution into the air we breathe for years. This must stop,” he said.
“We are calling on the state and federal governments to strengthen pollution standards to bring them in line with world’s best practice.”
Dr Ben Ewald spokesman for Doctors for the Environment Australia said Pollution from coal-fired power stations in NSW leads to “large health burdens”.
“Every year that coal-fired power stations keep polluting there are 279 premature deaths, 361 people develop diabetes, and 233 babies are born underweight,” Dr Ewald said.
■Vales Point Power Station operator Delta Electricity has been approached for comment.
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