Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has removed the last mobile air quality monitoring station from Cobden, now that air quality has returned to normal and is expected to stay that way.
Chief Environmental Scientist, Dr Andrea Hinwood, said the operation around the peat fires at Lake Cobrico and Lake Elingamite was another successful use of EPA’s incident air quality monitoring capacity.
“As with other major incidents such as the Coolaroo fire last year, EPA had monitoring gear on site and was publishing live data online to inform the public and emergency response agencies, within hours of being set up,” Dr Hinwood said.
“Peat fires produce a more hazardous mix of pollutants than bushfires, making them more of a hazard to people’s health, so we stationed mobile units near the fires at Lakes Cobrico and Elingamite, and in the local population centres at Camperdown, Terang and Cobden,” she said.
“For 44 days, EPA had air monitoring stations on site supported by an average of 15 staff at work at any time, informing the community of levels of air pollutants and the resulting hazards to people’s health.”
“EPA has now removed the last of the stations in the area, as the data shows there is now only a low risk from smoke.”
The last station to be demobilised was the incident air monitoring lab at Cobden, with its multi-gas and particulate monitoring equipment, which measured the airborne particulates that make up the visible part of smoke, as well as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and sulphur dioxide.
“Our mobile monitoring capacity is in steady demand; we now have air monitoring stations at work in north eastern Victoria while fuel reduction burns are under way there.”
The public can access live data from the mobile stations and EPA’s network of permanent monitoring stations on the AirWatch page at EPA’s website www.epa.vic.gov.au
EPA is still helping with recovery for the south west fires, supporting DELWP, CFA and other agencies with regulatory assistance, science-based advice and technical expertise as needed.
The EPA commitment during the peat fires involved 21 separate air monitoring instruments deployed to 12 separate sites, 6 water monitoring sites, and staff providing support to the community at a dozen public information sessions and other engagement activities.
You can check air quality around the state at EPA’s AirWatch website: www.epa.vic.gov.au/EPAAirWatch
Air quality across Victoria through the winter months
As the temperature drops and Victorians turn up the heat, (EPA) is encouraging households with wood heaters to take practical steps to help reduce smoke from their heaters over winter.
Reduced air quality across parts of Melbourne and regional Victoria over the winter months can be partially attributed to wood smoke and still weather conditions.
Many of the air pollution problems associated with wood heating can be minimised by following some simple tips that make the wood heater safer, cleaner, and cheaper to run.
For useful tips, visit: http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-centre/news-and-updates/news/2018/april/23/epa-encourages-households-to-prepare-their-wood-heaters
Looking after yourself in smoky conditions
While there is currently a low health risk to communities in the Cobden/Camperdown area, there may still be smoky conditions at times, even from far away bushfires and planned burns. As with other parts of the state, there are numerous private burns in the region which are impacting local air quality, and the community should remain aware and take action if there is smoke in the air.
If smoky conditions arise, even healthy adults are advised to limit prolonged or heavy physical activity outdoors, stay inside if possible, switch air-conditioners to recirculate or reuse air, or take a break in a building where the air conditioning filters the air.
Smoky conditions are particularly hazardous to people with asthma and other lung conditions, those with heart conditions, smokers, children under 14, adults over 65 and pregnant women.
EPA’s website offers advice on protecting your health in smoky conditions, and links to sites that provide official emergency warnings. Visit: www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/air/smoke
If you are experiencing any symptoms that may be due to smoke exposure, seek medical advice or call NURSE-ON-CALL on 1300 60 60 24. Anyone experiencing wheezing, chest tightness and difficulty breathing should call 000.