A filthy, dirty secret

Non-disclosure agreements, threats of job loss and intimidation if you speak out and tell the truth about why too many people are dying from an inordinate number of different cancers, living in fear of knowing the truth – this is the filthy, dirty secret and toxic culture of the coal-fired power generating industry!

 

This is also the problem being experienced by community group Future Sooner – a wall of silence - in the lead-up to their August community forum, where they have invited Central Coast residents to share their health issue problems from living in the shadow of the power stations.

 

Coal-fired power stations pump out into the air some of the most toxic chemicals that are injurious to human health. Yet successive state governments have buried their head-in-the-sand – denying the truth about the human health problem in the northern suburbs of the Central Coast, and elsewhere in NSW, just to keep the lights on.

12 June 2024

ALAN HAYES

 

Déjà vu

 

FOR close to a decade local community advocate and Future Sooner member, Gary Blaschke has raised the health issues of air pollution generated by coal fired power stations and the impact of the sprawling coal ash dams on human heath from both Vales Point and Eraring power stations. But this is a problem that has been plaguing the Central Coast for more than forty years!

 

Coal-fired power stations in NSW are pumping out some of the most toxic chemicals that impact on the well-being of people – leading to serious health problems like cancer, respiratory illnesses and severe asthma. An estimated 650 children on the Central Coast and at Lake Macquarie have asthma because of pollution that comes from coal-fired power stations like Vales Point.

 

Yet the recent announcement by the Minns Government to extend the lifespan of Eraring power station for a further two years seems to have ignored the government’s own findings. The most recent report by the National Pollution Inventory found that Eraring’s mercury pollution increased by a horrifying 130% in twelve months.

 

Mercury is a heavy metal that permanently damages human brains and kidneys and is especially harmful to children.

 

The toxic data comes after energy analysis predicted that NSW taxpayers could be forced to pay as much as $150 million a year to energy giant Origin to extend the operations of the Eraring coal-fired power station.

 

The irony is that our state government, current and previous, all knew about the ongoing health issues associated with the Eraring and Vales Point power stations. Recently, NSW Health Minister, Ryan Park, in replying to correspondence from a Future Sooner member, recognised that air pollution, including that from coal fired power stations, is associated with an increase in hospital admissions and deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory disease. But what is the government doing to address the ever-increasing health issues of residents living north of Wyong, which is caused by the 2.5pm fine particulate pollution emitted from the Vales Point and Eraring power stations?

 

So, what is airborne Particulate Matter? Airborne particulate matter (PM) is not a single pollutant, but rather it is a mixture of many chemicals. It is a complex mixture of solids and aerosols composed of small droplets of liquid, dry solid fragments, and solid cores with liquid coatings.

 

PM2.5 micrometre particles are small enough for you to breath them deeply into your lungs – sometimes entering the bloodstream – and has been shown to cause many serious health problems, increasing the risk of dying from heart and lung disease, stroke and cancer.

 

In the Central Coast's north, PM 2.5 fine particle pollution increased by 88%, and PM 10 larger particle pollution reached 16% above previous recordings and sulphur-dioxide rose by 15% - added to this, is a 47% increase in the sulphur-dioxide reading at Vales Point and a 48% increase in sulphur-dioxide reading at Bayswater power station - creating a toxic cocktail of health problems.

 

But it’s not just air borne pollution from the power stations that is impacting on human health!

 

Community advocate Gary Blaschke said, “coal ash storage in most coal ash dams throughout NSW have surpassed 30 Million tonnes and with Eraring’s extended lifespan a further 1,596,000 tonnes will need to be stored and eventually need remediation, if we have any chance of a healthy future.”

 

Coal ash is incredibly dangerous and contains hazardous contaminants, including cadmium, arsenic, chromium, lead, lithium, mercury, radium, selenium, and other heavy metals , which can easily pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water, and the air. Short-term exposure can bring on irritation of the nose and throat, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath. Long-term exposure can lead to liver damage, kidney damage, cardiac arrhythmia, heart and thyroid disease, reproductive failure, and neurological harm and a variety of cancers.

 

The real problem

 

Because the aging power stations were sold off to private enterprise there has been no incentive to invest in the future until recently, which has seen a government flurry to build wind farms, solar farms and massive storage batteries in the hope that instant renewable energy will solve the electricity crisis. But while the political ‘blowhards’ take centre stage, there is no real thought to entice private investment into securing 24/7 green power generation and follow the lead of many other countries around the world with ‘concentrated solar thermal power’ plants (CSP).

 

There is no doubt that our aging power stations are a problem and well-past their ‘use by dates’. Vales Point, which was commissioned in the early 1960s will continue to impact on human health – its current operators are only interested in profits. It was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its coal fuel source, and seemed destined to be phased out as the state switches to renewable energy sources in the fight against climate change. But Sev.en group, the current owners of Vales Point power station, seem set to ‘milk’ every last dollar from the aging and polluting behemoth.

 

In November 2015, the then Liberal Government of New South Wales sold Delta Electricity, which at that time owned only the Vales Point Power Station, to Sunset Power International for just $1 million – less than the cost of a modest suburban house. The then NSW treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said  at the time that selling it for scrap was a better deal for taxpayers than keeping it. So, why was it sold?

 

In 2013, Eraring, which was commissioned in the early 1980s, was the first of the state-owned power stations put up for sale by the O'Farrell government, and was offloaded for $50 million in a deal that also releases the state from a $1.75 billion obligation to supply it with cheap coal from a new mine at Cobbora, near Mudgee.

 

But NSW taxpayers ended up $75 million out of pocket over the decision to break the coal supply contract, which meant hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation had to be paid to Eraring's new owner, Origin Energy.

 

Under the deal, the O'Farrell Government also agreed to pay Origin $300 million compensation for the right to break the contract guaranteeing Eraring cheap coal supplied from the Cobbora mine. And once again the taxpayers of NSW have found themselves paying millions of dollars to Origin Energy under the deal with the State Government to extend Erarings operating life by two years.

 

Dodging the bullet

 

Except for the tenacity of a stalwart group of Central Coast residents, a different scenario could have come into play for what was then Wyong Shire - ongoing health problems, even far worse than that from the existing power stations today, would have been part of everyday life, as well as the same cavalier attitude from government toward health problems that is seen today.

 

In the late 1970s, the then Electricity Commission of NSW (ELCOM) put forward a proposal to build a power station at Chittaway – a push to take over the Wyong area as a southern extension of the Hunter coalfields and power generation.

 

Had the ELCOM plan succeeded, Wyong would have been transformed into a polluted and heavy industrial site. But the community realised the health problems that would arise from air pollution and coal ash dams and stood firm in a fight against the proposal and won.

 

The communities victory, however, was short-lived – the ELCOM ‘grifters’ were plotting once again to turn Wyong into ‘coal dust central’.

 

In 1983, rural property owner, Tony Spiers arrived home to find a bulldozer rampaging through his precious forest in the Ourimbah Hills. Mr Spiers was told that the ELCOM was pushing through a major power line, albeit without his knowledge or approval.

 

Mt Spiers commenced court action against ELCOM  and obtained an injunction to halt the proceedings. He also obtained a court order to search the files at the ELCOM headquarters.

 

Mr Spiers was able to  uncover a number of internal memos and directives, some of which he believed had most likely not met with the approval of the then Minister the Honourable Pat Hills.

 

Spiers contacted the Minister for a meeting and subsequently showed him copies of the secretive memos. At that time, it was reported that Minister Hills said to Mr Spiers, “What do you want from me?”

 

“I am after an inquiry into what  ELCOM are planning for the Central Coast”, Spiers said.

 

“Leave it with me,” the Minister replied.

 

In 1984, ELCOM released its plans for the construction of a 660MW power station at Mardi and a second 660MW power station to be constructed in the Only State Forest at Jilliby. The Wyong water catchment valleys, the Central Coast’s largest drinking water resource, was to become the coal mining conduits feeding the two power stations.

 

The entire Wyong district and surrounds was to be swallowed up in power and mining complexes, coal dumps and coal ash dams. Fifty percent of the Dooralong Valley, which is an integral and essential part of the Coast’s water catchment, was to become a coal ash dam.

 

But the community wasn’t going to sit back and accept the insanity of the ELCOM proposal. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, opposition groups CRIPS, AMPS and No Onley were formed to lead the fight against ELCOM and the government.

 

Local and national media headlines, such as ‘Lake Munmorah Kids Suffering’, ‘Asthma an Old Problem’, ‘Wyong: At the crossroads’, ‘Our worst fears confirmed’, ‘Meeting Drew 400 Residents’, ‘Munmorah kids health study’ and ‘Why Kassy fights for breath’, incited a community into a five-year battle. But the community were not alone in their fight against ELCOM and the government - highly charged submissions came forward from all over Australia, expressing many new alternative ways of producing power and more efficient ways of using current plant.

 

The ‘Battle for Wyong’ also garnered support from luminaries such as Professors  Harry Messel, Sol  Encel and Mark Diesendorf, as well as support from the Nature Conservation Council NSW, North Coast Environment Council, Friends of the Earth, The Wilderness Society, Total Environment Centre, Hunter Environment Lobby, Intelligent Energy Systems, and Society for Social Responsibility in Engineering.

 

A commission of inquiry was held, which encapsulated one important date – 31 October 1985. All hell had broken loose for ELCOM, culminating in a mighty internal battle that ended eventually in top level resignations and shifting of personnel within the Electricity Commission. It was also the day that media across Australia highlighted the problem of poisoned aerial fallout from power stations, which triggered widespread asthma and bronchitis and other problems already being suffered in communities, such as Lake Munmorah.

 

The Commission of Inquiry into future power generation in NSW, triggered by an Ourimbah property owner, was told... “Don’t worry about what ELCOM wants to build... worry about the massive health problems from their current plant up and down the Hunter and the Coast.” Health problems that 40 years later are still being inflicted upon Central Coast residents.

 

Community activist Mike Campbell, who is well-known for his involvement in the fight against the Wallarah 2 coal project proposal, said, “On October 31st, Lyn and I got a call from Tony and Bev Spiers at about 7am. Tony said, you’d better switch on the television, mate... the morning shows are alive with debate about power stations and children’s health and they were interviewing parents at Lake Munmorah.

 

“The findings of 1985 Commission of Inquiry found that there was not the need for new complexes to be built as was being planned. There should be no more power stations built on the Coast was a critical embodiment.”

 

The cover up

 

The monumental  defeat of the NSW Electricity Commission’s expansion plans was clearly an embarrassment for the Electricity Commission and for the government. All  official documentation of that time was mysteriously gathered up and spirited away. Even today, except for documents kept by Mike Campbell, it is extremely difficult to find any documentation to reveal the actual truth of what had transpired.

 

If it had not been for the doggedness and resourcefulness of the local individuals, who always unselfishly rise up when government, corporations and multi-nationals set their eyes on the Central Coast for self-serving interests, the ‘Battle for Wyong’ would not have been won.

 

Yet, the community was never lauded from any level of government for their efforts and time freely given for others – surprisingly, there were also no photographs of self-congratulating politicians. The fight for ‘health’ was locked away in some secret vault - the real truth never to be revealed.

 

The fight continues

 

Even to this day, health effect studies still go unanswered by our governments from burning coal for power generation. Yet, despite the lack of positive action from government, a new battle in Wyong’s northern suburbs rages, unabated, to hold those responsible for the ongoing health problems and unavoidable death sentences foisted upon them.

 

Environmental Justice Australia lawyer Isabella Farrell-Hallengraeff was recently reported as saying, “The owners of coal power stations are posting profits, despite NSW power stations producing less power overall and being among the worst emitters of some of the most toxic pollution.

 

“We know there is no safe level of air pollution and while coal-fired power stations continue to operate, the NSW Government and the EPA have a responsibility to protect the health of our community.

 

“We know that communities continue to tell the EPA that they’re sick and tired of toxic coal pollution and call for it to take proper action.”

 

It’s time for government to acknowledge that people living in the Central Coast’s north are dying from the impact of polluting power stations and put human heath first – propping up aging power stations is not the answer!