A higher frequency of unseasonal westerly winds is responsible for higher than usual sulphur dioxide readings in the Mount Isa area, according to Mount Isa Mines.
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Users of the AQMI phone app will have noticed a large number of sulphur dioxide warnings and Maryann Wipaki, Health, Safety, Environment and Community Manager for Glencore’s North Queensland operations said the wind was to blame.
“Recently, there has been a higher frequency of westerly or unfavourable winds than usual when compared against seasonal trends,” Ms Wipaki said. “In the last three months, westerly winds have increased by 84% when compared with the same period last year.”
The data comes from Mount Isa Mines’ Air Quality Mount Isa (AQMI) application which provides a 24 hour forecast of westerly wind conditions to predict the likelihood of sulphur dioxide impacting the Mount Isa community and provides a dashboard of the monitoring locations within the community and the levels of sulphur dioxide being detected.
Ms Wipaki says they take measures to deal with the problem as it arises including shutdown of operations.
“Our Air Quality Control Centre (AQC) works both predictively by assessing weather patterns and production profiles) and reactively by responding to changed weather conditions and sulphur dioxide detected on the monitoring network to minimise impacts to our community and ensure compliance with our regulatory limits,” she said.
“During the past week, and consistent with our AQC management protocols, we have restricted our smelting operations – complete and partial shutdowns - for 87 hours in total,” she said.
“This is an increase of 59 hours from the week before, when more favourable wind conditions were experienced.”
When asked whether this represented a higher danger than normal for anyone doing outdoor activities, Ms Wipaki said the AQMI application sent notifications at levels lower than most people would detect sulphur dioxide and lower than the regulatory limit.
“The application is particularly targeted at increasing awareness for community members who are more sensitive than others to sulphur dioxide,” she said.
If you have concerns you can call the Mount Isa Mines’ 24 hour Community Feedback Hotline on 1800 982 982.