LEAD researcher Mark Taylor has hit back at claims he does not care about the future of places like Mount Isa.
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The Macquarie University professor unwittingly became involved in the election campaign after reporting Mount Isa Mines had exceeded the hourly limit for sulphur dioxide emissions several days this year, with LNP candidate Jonathan Pavetto branding him a “left-wing greenie” who was trying to shut down the mining industry.
However Prof Taylor said that was not true and since his team started their work Mount Mount Isa had spent over half a billion dollars on environmental improvement.
“Since we started our work the industry is still there, the blood lead levels appear to be coming down and they have invested $600 million in environment improvement,” Prof Taylor said.
“Those costs, and the staff associated with those costs, are investments in improving local health in the community.
“Now that can’t be a bad thing.”
Prof Taylor said he was not against Mount Isa Mines extracting ore.
“I use copper, I use phones, I’ve got internet at home, I drive a car, I drive a motorbike, I’ve got lead acid batteries, I understand the need for these products,” he said.
But he said his point was until his team began their research they had a licence to pollute.
“The company has responded in a practical sense to this issue and that’s a good outcome,” he said.
The company has responded in a practical sense to this issue and that’s a good outcome
- Mark Taylor
“But I would like to know is what the status of blood-lead in the population more clearly and have a decent number of kids who are analysed.”
Prof Taylor said from the information he had, blood lead levels were reducing in Mount Isa which was good news.
“But, on the last study I looked at there were still 50 percent of the kids who had blood lead levels over five micrograms per decilitre (five parts per billion) which is a real concern which means there is still work to be done,” he said.
“It’s not something we can dismiss.”
Prof Taylor said his argument had always been if you could prevent kids from being exposed you should do that.
“Prevention is the best way of mitigating any damage that may occur to those children,” he said.
“That takes us back to the primary source of the lead which is the mine.
“Globally we are seeing effective alternatives to lead but at the moment we all use lead. Lead is a wonderful product and highly effective at doing its job.”