In response to community concerns about the health impacts of coal ash in parts of NSW, NSW Health has commissioned a human health risk assessment and established the Lake Macquarie and Lake Munmorah Coal Ash and Health Advisory Committee (CAHAC). The CAHAC provides a forum for open discussion between NSW Health representatives, the community, stakeholder groups and Local Government on investigations to better understand potential health impacts of coal ash dams in Lake Macquarie and Lake Munmorah communities. Central Coast and Hunter New England Local Health Districts are liaising with the community and managing advisory committee with the help of an independent chair. Further information and documents related to the CAHAC including Terms of Reference, meeting minutes and meeting papers can be found at:
NSW coal ash and health community advisory committee
Coal-fired power stations can generate a range of air emissions, including products of combustion. Coal ash is one such product that is generated from coal fired power stations through the combustion of coal.
Coal ash that is not reused is stored in dry layers (emplacements) or in wet coal ash dams. Collectively these are called coal ash repositories. The characteristics of the coal as in these repositories depends on the composition of the coal and typically includes silica and metals.
The potential health impacts of coal ash depend on the composition of the source coal that is used and human exposure to byproducts of coal combustion. Coal ash can contain a range of byproducts that can be inhaled through air emissions (such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter) or by ingesting heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic that may get into soil and water.
A range of factors influence how the environment and humans are exposed to byproducts of coal ash including:
The NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for ensuring that the health of the community and environment are protected from the potential impacts of coal ash. This includes regulating and monitoring emissions to the environment and regulating contaminated sites.
In response to community members raising concerns about exposure to emissions to air from operational power stations and contamination derived from coal ash dams on the Central Coast and in Lake Macquarie, NSW Health has engaged the Environmental Risk Sciences Pty Ltd (enRiskS) to conduct the human health risk assessment which will consider exposures and risks related to air emissions from operational power stations. These power stations include the Eraring and Vales Point power stations, both of which are currently still operating, and Lake Munmorah power station (now closed). Eraring is projected for shutdown in 2027 and Vales Point in 2033.
The human health risk assessment also addresses a recommendation from the NSW Parliamentary inquiry which was established on 1 October 2019 to look into the costs of remediating coal ash repositories. One recommendation called for an epidemiological study to evaluate the health of communities surrounding coal ash dams.
The NSW Government noted the recommendation and committed to understanding the impacts of coal ash on the health of communities. The response articulated that an epidemiological assessment of the health of residents near coal ash dams will not establish whether observed health outcomes are attributable to chemicals in coal ash, but proposed alternative study types such as exposure assessment or health risk assessment may be better able to address the community’s health concerns.