<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/23/dust-newcrest-cadia-goldmine-11-times-regulatory-limit>
"The head of the environmental regulator has slammed the operators of
Australia’s largest goldmine for “completely unacceptable” levels of air
pollution after testing revealed it was emitting more than 11 times the legal
limit of dust containing heavy metals.
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority on Wednesday ordered the
operators of the Newcrest Cadia Hill goldmine, near Orange, to take immediate
action to reduce air pollution to within legal limits or face the consequences
– which could include the suspension of its mining licence.
The company provided preliminary air pollution test results to the EPA on 6
June after the regulator issued a prevention notice over its management of
“emissions of dust and other pollutants”.
That report found that the mine’s main vent, VR8, also known as the “crusher
vent” because it extracts contaminated air from where the ore is crushed deep
underground, was expelling between 200 and 570 milligrams per cubic metre of
dust – more than 11 times the regulatory limit for air pollution.
This is despite a new ventilation system that included installing a bag house
which catches 1 tonne of dust an hour.
The EPA chief executive officer, Tony Chappel, told Guardian Australia on
Thursday that the level of pollution recorded in those test results was
“completely unacceptable” and that the mine had fallen well short of its legal
obligations to meet clean air standards.
“The clean air regulation states that for any point source of pollution, which
that vent is, the maximum allowable standard of dust is 50 milligrams per cubic
metre,” he said. “That’s the standard we’re talking about when we say they have
to immediately comply.”
The results only relate to the quantity of dust. A full chemical analysis,
which will detail the makeup of the dust, will take a further 28 days."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
