Latest figures reveal air quality crisis

Thursday, 25 January 2001 10:00

Releasing an analysis of the figures TEC Director Mr Jeff Angel said "The shocking levels of ozone (the major measure of smog) recorded this summer show that Sydney is in the midst of an air quality crisis. Clearly the State Government has a long way to go to fix air quality problems in the Sydney air shed".

In the months of December and January (the 'holiday months') there were no fewer than 73 eight hour readings across Sydney that exceeded WHO guidelines of 0.08 Parts Per Million (ppm), and of those 26 also exceeded the NEPM standard of 0.10 ppm. The results for Western Sydney are particularly bad with a highest level of 0.17 ppm, more than double the WHO standard.

Recent scientific studies have revealed that exposure to ozone can trigger asthma in primates.

The sharp decline in air quality this summer has prompted TEC to conduct a major audit of the State Government's "Action for Air" program, a 25 year plan to improve air quality in the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney, the Illawarra and the Lower Hunter.

"These are the worst ozone figures since the early 80's, clearly a major overhaul of air quality programs is needed. Our audit will examine the progress of the State Government's Action for Air program and identify solutions for improving the quality of Sydney's air", Mr Angel said

A major target of the strategy is to reduce car travel and increase public transport use, however current figures show that car usage is actually continuing to rise sharply.
Mr Leigh Martin, TEC Urban Environment Campaigner, said "Action for Air aims to achieve zero growth in per capita Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) by 2011 and zero growth in Total VKT by 2021. Most recent government figures, however, show that per capita VKT increased by 15.3% between 1991 and 1997 while total VKT increased by an astounding 23.5% in the same period. It appears that VKT is continuing to outstrip population growth and the Action for Air targets, clearly more effort is needed to improve our public transport system".

"Unless this trend is reversed by promoting more effective and reliable public transport Sydney can expect more long hot summers of worsening air quality". Mr Martin said