Tumut
Indicator: Air Emissions
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
What the results tell us for Tumut
In 2006/07 45 substances were reported as emissions to air in Tumut shire. These were associated with the timber industry in the categories ‘Log Sawmilling & Timber Dressing’ (31.6% of all emissions), ‘Other Wood Product Manufacturing’ (30.8%) and ‘Pulp, Paper & Paperboard Manufacturing’ (28%).
Four facilities in the Tumut area reported air emissions to the NPI during all or part of the period. These were Carter Holt Harvey Wood Products Australia Pty Ltd (Carter Holt Harvey Pinepanels Tumut), Visy Pulp and Paper Pty Ltd (Visy Pulp and Paper Mill Tumut), Weyerhaeuser Australia Pty Ltd (Weyerhaeuser Gilmore Wood Preservation Plant) and Weyerhaeuser Australia Pty Ltd (Weyerhaeuser Tumut Sawmill). All emissions are classified as low relative to Australian standards.
For comprehensive details of air emissions in Tumut shire, such as the types and quantities of substances emitted, see the National Pollutant Inventory website www.npi.gov.au.
About the data
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is a publicly accessible database with information on the types and amounts of substances emitted to the Australian environment. The report in 2008 was the ninth since the NPI began; since its inception the number of facilities reporting to the NPI has trebled. All information in this section was obtained from the NPI website (http://www.npi.gov.au/), which is maintained by the federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2008).
The NPI holds pollutant emissions data reported by industrial facilities and diffuse data determined by state and territory environment agencies. Industrial facilities are required to report annual emissions to the NPI if they exceed NPI reporting thresholds for one or more NPI substances. Diffuse emissions to air include sources such as transport (e.g. motor vehicles) and non-industrial (e.g. barbeques).
Commonwealth, state and territory environment agencies have approved the techniques used to estimate emissions for the NPI. It is important to note that the accuracy of these techniques varies. For the diffuse data in particular, comparative analysis of the data may be misleading, because jurisdictions may have used different approved estimation techniques. Industrial facilities estimate pollutant emissions using techniques described in an industry NPI manual, or else otherwise approved.
NPI substances have a wide range of toxicities. A small emission may not necessarily be insignificant; for example, a small emission of a highly toxic substance may be of more concern than a larger emission of a substance of relatively lower toxicity. All emission amounts reported here have been rounded to two significant figures - totals may differ from the sum of the individual amounts on these reports because of this rounding. Some minor discrepancies may also occur with catchment and airshed data, particularly when queried at a fine spatial resolution such as a postcode. This is because these data are collected at varying spatial resolutions.
Following a review of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) in 2005, Australian, State and Territory Environment Ministers meeting at the Environment Protection and Heritage Council in June 2007 agreed to vary the National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM). The variation puts into place a number of changes including the reporting of transfers of NPI substances in waste to final destination, reporting of new substances, a lowered usage threshold for mercury and compounds and a change in the release date of annual data. The variation to the NPI NEPM will expand the program to fulfill its potential as a major environmental management and cleaner production tool, whilst also fulfilling its role as an accessible information source for the community and other stakeholders.
