Dust Up: Review of Harmful PM10 Dust Emissions in the Mackay ...

Ambient Air Quality in the Mackay Local Government RegionAmbient (outside) air quality is recorded hourly in West Mackay by the Queensland Department ofEnvironment and Heritage. Data is reported online and includes average hourly 1 , daily 2 and annualPM10 particulates and is meant to represent the “average” outdoor air quality for the Mackay localgovernment region.Annual average PM10 particulate dust emissions recorded at West Mackay between 2000-2009exceeded the World Health Organisation guideline of 20 (µg/m³) for eight of those ten years andwere higher than values recorded in the Brisbane CBD for all years between 2000-2012 (Fig.1).The Queensland government in its annual background reports attributed the eight exceedances ofthe average annual WHO guideline at West Mackay between 2000-2009 to a variety of factorsincluding major dust storms in 2005 and 2009, agricultural sources, bushfires and the presence of acommercial soil operation near the monitoring station. 3 In 2010 the monitoring station was movedto a more rural location away from point and fugitive sources to provide data more representationof ambient conditions across the Mackay local government region. Average annual values fell (butnot greatly) below the WHO guideline of 20 µg/m³ i.e. 18.5 µg/m³ – 2010, 19.8 5 µg/m³ – 2011, and17.8 µg/m³ - 2012 (Fig. 2). This suggests that the air shed is approaching capacity for PM10particulates and that further large man-made dust sources should not be introduced unless currentlevels can be reduced or additional inputs can be confined to their sources.Fig. 1 Annual average PM10 Dust Particulate Values (µg/m³) in West Mackay and Brisbane CBD 2000-1012compared to the World Health Guideline of 20 µg/m³.1http://ehp.qld.gov.au/air/data/search.php2http://ehp.qld.gov.au/air/data/airchart.php?station_id=mac&parameter_id=18&day=26&month=03&year=2013&hour=01&day2=26&month2=03&year2=2013&hour2=24&mode=measurement&zoom=day&auto=Autoscaled&scale=&category_id=1&formtype=winddirection&chart_type=Linear&submit=Generate+Graph3Ambient air quality in Queensland (year) annual summary and trend reports. Available online athttp://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/air/reports/reports.html Data from 2007 to 2012 is available upon request fromthe Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA).Mackay Conservation Group. Dust Up Report. Oct 2013