CLOUDS of toxic gas are regularly blasted out of open-cut coalmines in NSW but the public is not being warned when the ‘‘fume’’ leaves mine sites and heads their way.
The orange oxides of nitrogen gas clouds, sometimes hundreds of metres wide, are produced when explosives fail to properly detonate, and can be deadly if inhaled in significant amounts.
Miners are supposed to minimise the gas by ensuring the right balance of explosive components and placement, especially when the ground is wet, which increases the risk. They are also supposed to monitor wind direction and other weather to ensure the gas disperses over the mine site.
But a Bulga resident needed medical treatment after allegedly inhaling blast fume on the Putty Road, near Singleton, on March 2. The nearby Mount Thorley Warkworth mine was suspected as the source.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority would not say whether mines were supposed to have an evacuation plan or alert system for residents or others in the path of the gas.
Newcastle Herald
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