Doctors warn Grosvenor coal fire ‘a major health hazard’ for Moranbah community
Health experts are concerned for the safety of the Moranbah community from exposure to toxic smoke from the coal mine fire that has been blazing for 13 days and counting.
The fire started burning due to methane gas which ignited on the longwall coalface, putting workers and local residents in danger. When methane burns, the emissions released are CO2, alongside a range of other toxic pollutants that are released from the fire’s smoke.
Pollutants such as gases, dust, fumes and particulate matter can represent a major health hazard to communities, particularly for children and the elderly.
University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow and expert in climate change and health, Rebecca Patrick, said:
There are likely to be several immediate and longer-term physical and mental health impacts of a disaster like this.
Previous incidents link respiratory disease and asthma related emergency presentations and hospital admissions to coal mine fires.
We can anticipate high levels of psychological distress in the community during and after the disaster particularly for those individuals directly impacted.
Children and younger people are usually the most vulnerable to health impacts of disasters.
And of course this is a massive blow to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It is timely that Australia is about to establish a Centre for Disease Control which will help improve our response and preparedness for public health emergencies like this.
Queensland state representative of Doctors for the Environment Australia, Doctor David King, said:
Pollutants such as gases, dust, fumes and particulate matter can represent a major health hazard to affected communities in the form of hospitalisations or even death, particularly for the elderly, children and people with chronic lung disease, influenza or asthma.
I would urgently call for extensive independent monitoring by researchers for all likely toxins in soil, air and water, with a sampling protocol specifically designed to assess exposures for workers and the local community.
This was done following what happened in Morwell and surrounding towns in Victoria when the Hazelwood coal mine fire blazed for 45 days in 2014 and led to an increase in deaths in the Latrobe Valley.
In the absence of previous data we must assume danger and act accordingly, and use this terrible incident to learn how to protect people in the future.
Researchers must start testing now, working closely with the community.
Queensland Conservation Council director, Dave Copeman, said:
This fire shows that methane leaks are a dangerous safety risk in coal and gas mining, harming worker health and presenting a major explosion risk.
The Russelvale coal mine in NSW had several methane explosion incidents in just a few years and has been shut down due to safety risks. There has already been one explosion at Grosvenor in 2020, and now this current fire.
Fossil fuel corporations are making huge profits while neglecting their responsibility to measure and reduce methane emissions.
Coal miners must not be allowed to leak millions of tonnes of super-polluting methane without consequence.
It is crucial they invest in technologies and practices that limit pollution, fix leaks, protect workers, and address the ecological aftermath of mining.
This fire demonstrates the urgency of our call to state and federal governments for better monitoring and regulation of methane from coal mining to protect Queensland workers and communities.