Mercury emissions
Dr READ (Brunswick) (09:49): Over the past year the three coal power stations in the Latrobe Valley have between them put about a tonne of mercury into the atmosphere. Mercury accumulates in the environment; it does not go away and is not broken down. It gets into smaller animals that are eaten by bigger animals and it accumulates in what are called apex predators—the animals at the top of the food chain. And that is probably why dead dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes have three times the mercury level in their blubber of live dolphins. The other apex predators in Gippsland are humans, and mercury can affect the developing brain, particularly in the foetus and in small children. Mercury is associated with mental retardation. There is no limit at all on the amount of mercury that power stations are allowed to emit in Victoria, but there are very tight limits in the United States, Europe and China.
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has been reviewing the emission limits for power stations for over two years now. I do not believe that they are still spending every minute of the day working on this review. I reckon they have probably come to some conclusions, and I think it is time that the MPs representing the people of Gippsland and government MPs started to demand action from the government to set emission limits for these power stations.