Go Live Near a Coalmine!
Coalmine blamed for diarrhea outbreak in Queensland, Australia
A coalmine has been blamed for an outbreak of diarrhea in Australia’s central Queensland town of Bluff.
Nearly all of the 437 people who live in Bluff, 94 km east of Emerald in the Central Highlands, have had the ‘runs’ since water was discharged from the nearby Ensham coalmine after it was flooded by rain last year, AAP reported.
Cheneyite John Howard, former Australian dictator, affected by Diarrhea in this undated photo. Image may be subject to copyright.
“I put it down to the water,” resident Tim Cumming said. “I’m sure the old girl’s not poisoning me. … It can’t be her cooking. I’d be dead by now if it was.”
Mr Cumming believes the linking factor in the outbreaks of diarrhea was the water supply.
“Look, we all can’t be eating the same food, we put it back to the water.”
Water from the Ensham mine flowed into the Nagoa River to Bedford Weir, which is Bluff’s source of drinking water.
The water then flows into the MacKenzie and Fitzroy rivers to Rockhampton, report said.
Mr Cumming major concern was the pollution of the regional rivers.
“We have to have coal mines to keep the bloody country afloat but on the other side, how about we look after our own backyard and clean up what we’ve got here,” he said.
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“The Environmental Protection Agency allowed further discharges of water after recent falls of 120mm at the mine site,” report said.
“After similar discharges last year, retired Monash University professor and international water quality expert Barry Hart, said the discharge caused poor drinking water quality in communities along the rivers.”
“The discharges are also a worry for rural lobby group AgForce, which has, for some time, expressed concern about the impact of mining operations on water quality in central Queensland, given the intensity of mining in the region.”
“This is causing concern for irrigators and livestock producers, as well as local communities, because of the potential long-term impact of salty water on farmland, livestock and river viability,” said AgForce vice-president Ian Burnett.
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