CAN News August
2012
CAN Meets: 1st & 3rd Wednesday of each month
(6:30pm - 8pm)
Hunter
Community Environment Centre (HCEC), 169 Parry St, Hamilton East.
We'd
love to see you there sometime!
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Electric Vehicle Festival - Saturday
18 August
The Tom Farrell Institute for the
Environment is holding an Electric Vehicle Festival at Foreshore Park,
Newcastle on Saturday 18 August, 10am -
4pm. There will be electric car and
motorbike demonstrations, workshops to build your own vehicle and a Clean
Energy and Transport Innovation Workshop, among other activities, events and
stalls. Come and say hello to us at the Climate Action Newcastle stall!
Free entry, for more information
see the EV Festival website here
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Sick of Coal? Public forum - Tuesday 21 August
Why are Newcastle residents so concerned about the
proposed coal terminal?
What air pollution are residents exposed to close to coal trains and coal
terminals?
Why cover coal trains?
What are the health risks of living with coal and doubling coal exports through
Newcastle?
Tuesday 21 August 6pm
Mayfield East Public School (Crebert St
School Hall)
The forum will be hosted by local community and environment groups working
together, and will focus on the proposed fourth coal terminal. We’ll also hear
from visiting health experts Professor Peter Orris and Fiona Armstrong to learn
about the health effects of living with coal and options to protect our
community:
Professor Professor Orris is the Director of Occupation
and Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has
served as advisor to WHO, PAHO, as well as Federal, State and Local
Governments, environmental organisations, labor unions and corporations. He has
written numerous articles, book chapters and governmental reports in the field
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and maintains an active clinical and
teaching practice.
Fiona Armstrong is convenor of the Climate and Health Alliance, a
coalition of health professionals that work together to raise awareness about
the risks to health from ecological degradation and climate change and the
benefits to health from climate action and environmental protection. Fiona has
a background in health, journalism, public policy and advocacy.
To learn more about T4 and the Coal Terminal Action Group, ‘like’ our Facebook page
you can help -
we need people to deliver flyers about T4 to letterboxes in suburbs around the
Port. Contact Cathy cathyburgess22@yahoo.com
if you can spare an hour or two's walk.
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Community-led Dust and Health Study launched
Last week members of the
Coal Terminal Action Group, including from Climate Action Newcastle, launched a
community-led study into the health impacts of the existing three coal terminals
in Newcastle. The community-led study will address critical questions that were not
answered in the 1,400 page Environmental Assessment Report prepared for T4:
(1) What
level of fine particle pollution are residents along the Hunter rail corridor
and in suburbs close to Newcastle’s coal loading terminals currently exposed
to?
(2) What are
the health impacts of current levels of fine particle pollution?
(3) To what
extent does coal from train wagons, coal piles and handling contribute to this
particle pollution?
(4) How will
fine particle pollution levels change if twice as much coal is transported from
the Hunter?
The study will analyse air
quality monitoring data collected by local and state government and by
industry, commission additional monitoring of ultrafine particles (PM1),
develop recommendations for improved monitoring and reporting arrangements and
assess the health impacts of current pollution levels and the proposed T4. Australian
and international authorities accept that there is a direct link between
long-term exposure to particle pollution and a range of respiratory ailments.
These ailments include hospital admissions and emergency department attendance,
respiratory disease, asthma, heart disease, congestive heart failure and mortality.
The study will be mentored by air quality and public health experts from the
University of Newcastle and throughout Australia.
The launch is hot on the
heels of the community survey of more than 500 local residents in June, which
found that:
·
77% of residents do not
want any more coal loaders in Newcastle. This includes coal industry workers.
·
Fewer than 10% of residents
want more coal loaders.
·
Of the respondents who consider
the expansion of the coal industry good for the community, 70% are opposed to
the proposed fourth coal terminal.
·
81% of residents are aware
that a fourth coal terminal is proposed, but few people know much detail about
it beyond being aware of the general location.
·
74% of Newcastle residents
are either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the proposed fourth coal
terminal.
·
Dust, health and pollution
are people’s top concerns. Respondents mentioned concerns about dust more than
twice as frequently as any other issue. Noise and traffic are the second and
third most frequently mentioned concerns.
·
68% of residents feel
“very” or “somewhat” affected by the three existing coal terminals.
·
69% of residents are “very”
(46%) or “somewhat” (23%) concerned about the impact of coal trains passing
through Newcastle suburbs. Only 25% of respondents are not concerned.
·
39% of respondents report
that they or a member of their household suffers from a respiratory ailment and
one-third of these people consider that the ailment is caused by coal.
·
Almost half (46%) of all
respondents feel that the expansion of the coal industry is “bad” for the
community, 19% of respondents feel it is “good” and 9% think it is both “good
and bad”.
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The Wilderness Society Newcastle's 30th Birthday - Saturday 25 August
Bush dance!
Live bands, food, drinks, friends, prizes, memories
and a celebration of 30 years of environmental action in Newcastle.
Saturday 25 August 7 - 11pm
The Lock-up Cultural Centre, 90
Hunter Street Newcastle
Tickets $ 20 Concession $10
For info and tickets call 4929 4395 or email newcastle@wilderness.org.au
Facebook event link here
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