How to investigate health and coal mining in the Hunter

Published an article Investigating the health impacts of particulates associated with coalmining in the Hunter Valley in Air Quality and Climate Change.
Particularly want to thank the authorship team and in particular C. Arden Pope III as senior author on the paper. Interestingly, some commentators on reading the paper alleged we were "pro-mining" but there was no dispute on the facts presented.  You only have to see how Republican politicians have attacked C. Arden Pope over the years and note my "Vote Green" election poster out front of the house to suggest we are unlikely to be biased towards mining.  Bias is dangerous - you build a house of cards and then you try to defend it.

Duelling Rail Corridor Coal Dust Studies Confuses Community

THE latest of three local (Newcastle, Australia) rail-corridor studies on coal dust was released last week. I published an opinion piece on the confusion these duelling dust studies are causing in the community.
The first study was released by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) in October 2012. It had multiple limitations and was dismissed by community activists. Under the auspices of the Coal Terminal Action Group (CTAG), they responded by designing and conducting their own community-funded study of coal dust in Newcastle and the Lower Hunter coal train corridor.
The community study also had multiple limitations including - according to Professor Howard Bridgman, the consultant to the study - an inability to reliably calibrate the particle monitors.
Now the ARTC has released the third study of coal dust in the rail corridor. CTAG has dismissed this and says it will begin fund-raising to conduct a fourth study.
Many members of the community are confused by the duelling claims of health impacts and the uncertainty surrounding each of the studies. Uncertainty about health impacts is itself a source of psychological stress and a cause of poor health. More here

Submission to the Air Pollution and Health Senate Inquiry

I made a submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Impacts on Health of Air Quality in Australia as a private citizen entitled How to investigate the impact of coal mining on community health - a  Hunter Valley Perspective.
It focused on 3 suggested solutions:
1. Integrate toxicological and epidemiological research to identify the major sources of
environmental health risk and quantify the risk.
2. Develop an independent Environmental Health Investigation and Conflict Resolution
Centre in the Hunter to:
a. Respond to the environmental health concerns of the community.
b. Initiate participatory research on the environmental health impacts of mining
and related industries collaboratively between community, academia and
government.
3. Develop better methods for assessment and approval of major projects that are
strategic, based on explicit values, participatory and deliberative with stakeholders.
It received some local coverage in Singleton Argus and ABC 1233 and the EPA have started discussing the conceptual model for balancing psychological and physical risk on page 8 of the submission.

Port Waratah Coal Service Cancer Cluster

After the forum on the 8th, I received an emailed question about the PWCS cancer cluster.  Cancer clusters are often difficult to interpret.   I have pasted the essence of my response to the question below.

Newcastle Air and Health Forum - Nov 8th

About 150 people attended the forum.  Community concern related mainly to the proposed coal loader and emissions from Kooragang Island. After the forum concern was raised that there is no monitoring of the extremely small particulates of 1 micron or less.  I made the point at the forum that the smaller particles probably have greater health impact than the larger particles between 2.5 and 10 microns. However, there is little benefit in monitoring for PM1s in the Hunter because we cannot interpret the results from such monitoring - Howard Bridgman made the point it is particularly difficult to even monitor PM1s. The powerpoint presentation is available here

Environmental Health for Environmental Advocates Workshop

I conducted a workshop entitled “Environmental Health for Environmental Advocates” in association with the Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment on May 29^th, 2012.  The purpose of the workshop was to provide a forum in which an extended dialogue around environmental health science and risk assessment, primarily focusing on air pollution and health in the Hunter, could occur.