Qld: Air monitoring in Mt Isa not enough, says lawyer

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2008
Qld: Air monitoring in Mt Isa not enough, says lawyer

By Rosemary Desmond

BRISBANE, Aug 1 AAP - The Queensland mining city of Mount Isa will be the first in
Australia, and one of the few in the world, to have its air monitored for toxic metals
24 hours a day by a government agency.

But the lawyer for a child suffering the effects of high lead levels in Mt Isa says
the new air monitoring equipment does not address the root cause of the health risk.

A $300,000 US-made machine will be installed in the north-west Queensland city in October
to monitor airborne heavy metals.

It will provide air samples hourly for analysis by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

But Damien Scattini, who represents the family of six-year-old former Mt Isa girl Stella
Hare, said the air monitoring did not go far enough.

"It's a welcome, late first step, but you are just witnessing what is going on then,
rather than being an active player in stopping it at its source," Mr Scattini told AAP
today.

"So we will all be able to see what we all knew and that is that the mine is polluting the town.

"What they have to do is to intervene to stop the ongoing pollution and so they have
to cap the slag (tailings) piles, because the wind picks up the dust from them and distributes
it all over the town."

The family of Stella Hare have launched legal action in a test case against miner Xstrata,
Mt Isa City Council and the Queensland government over the girl's brain and nervous system
impairments which are allegedly linked to lead exposure.

Queensland environment minister Andrew McNamara today said the monitor came onto the
market less than 12 months ago after approval by the US Environmental Protection Agency
and Mt Isa would be among the first half-dozen cities in the world to have the machine
installed.

"It will provide continuous, near-real time monitoring and reporting of up to 20 elements
including lead, zinc, cadmium, copper and arsenic," Mr McNamara said.

Information about heavy metals in the air would be monitored continuously and reported
on the EPA website every hour.

"This is all about ensuring peace of mind for the people of Mt Isa," he said.

The move follows the release of findings in May showing one in 10 children under the
age of four in Mt Isa had elevated levels of lead, which can cause behavioural, intellectual
and other health problems.

The study by Queensland Health showed that about 70 per cent of the children tested
had eaten soil and most had played in it or owned pets which exposed them to more dust.

It recommended health and hygiene measures to minimise the danger.

Mining company Xstrata Mount Isa Mines welcomed the new air monitoring initiatives
which it said complemented its existing system.

"Mt Isa has the most extensive air quality monitoring system of any city in Australia,
and we support any additional steps that increase public confidence in environmental reporting,"

Xstrata Copper north Queensland chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff said.

"Xstrata has a network of environmental monitoring systems in the Mt Isa community
and we consistently report well below the Queensland EPA limit of 1.5 micrograms per cubic
metre for lead in air levels."

AAP rad/pjo/jl/de

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