A $44,500 review of a Mount Maunganui air quality study has reaffirmed findings that poor air quality in the suburb’s airshed was creating significant health risks and premature deaths.
The technical review into health risks of exposure to air pollution in the Mount Maunganui Industrial Airshed – an area with special air quality management – was released this month.
It follows a July 2023 report commissioned by Bay of Plenty public health organisation Toi Te Ora that found PM10 – tiny particles in the air that can be inhaled and penetrate the lungs – contributed to an estimated 13 premature deaths in Mount Maunganui each year.
Last year’s report by Environmental Science and Research (ESR) summarised data findings from 2019 to 2022 and focused on the health impacts of PM10 – particulate matter less than 10 micrograms in diameter – the even smaller PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), benzene and hydrogen sulphide (H2s).
The report also found PM10 within the airshed – which hosts 200 residences and Whareroa Marae as well as a busy stretch of State Highway 2, the Port of Tauranga and many industrial and commercial businesses – was still high with frequent breaches, and exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines.
It compared Mount Maunganui with Tauranga suburb Ōtumoetai and found each year there were five extra deaths and 10 extra hospitalisations related to air quality in the Mount. The estimated social cost of additional deaths and ailments was $22 million.
At the time, Medical Officer of Health Dr Jim Miller said the level of air pollution in Mount Maunganui was among the worst in New Zealand.
Mount Maunganui resident and clean-air advocate Emma Jones told a Bay of Plenty Regional Council meeting in September this report was “extremely valuable” and provided “concrete evidence” of what many locals already knew.
The regional council and Tauranga City Council then commissioned an independent review to understand the reliability of the report.
The technical review by Dr Emily Wilton from Environet Limited was published this month. It broadly supported the Toi Te Ora report’s findings.
In the review, Wilton said her report’s purpose was to help “decision-makers with the reliability of findings on the health implications of air quality in and around the Mount Maunganui industrial area”.
Wilton found “no issues of substance and concur with the findings that air quality in the Mount Maunganui area will result in premature mortality and hospital admissions”.
“We consider the calculations of numbers for these health endpoints likely to be indicative of the scale of impact.”
The health risk for non-residents exposed for long periods, such as more than 11,000 workers and children in childcare centres, could not be “characterised by the risk assessment approach”.
“Children are particularly susceptible to acute impacts of coarse particulate exposure. Other susceptible groups include the elderly and those with underlying cardiopulmonary disease (a risk factor for smoking),” the report said.
“In our view, the report supports the need to manage and minimise emissions of all contaminants in the [airshed] but with specific attention to PM10, PM2.5, NO2 [nitrogen dioxide] and SO2 [sulphur dioxide]. The main sources of PM10, PM2.5 and SO2 are industrial activities, port activities and shipping. Motor vehicles and shipping are main sources of NO2.”
Wilton stated resource consents and land use planning could be used to improve air quality from industrial activities and minimise exposure.
The area was already the most comprehensively monitored airshed in New Zealand, she said, and did not believe more monitoring was needed to improve understanding of health impacts.
Tauranga City Council general manager of strategy, growth and governance Christine Jones said the $44,500 (excluding GST) spent on the review was important because it supported long-term planning for both councils.
Tauranga council has just completed its Mount Industrial Planning study, which aimed to identify a programme of actions for the future. These were expected to consider issues “and the needs of all stakeholders”, Jones said.
“Those issues include future land use, cultural and social impacts, natural hazards, air quality, transportation, and economic growth.”
Jones said the council has been working with stakeholders “to address land use and related planning issues in the Mount Maunganui Airshed”.
The council had completed its proposed Plan Change 38 (Business Land Framework) to the Tauranga City Plan as a result, Jones said.
This would consider options to address current land conflicts between existing industrial activities and neighbouring sensitive land uses, such as residential, urban marae and papakāinga within the airshed, she said.
“Tauranga City Council can only effect change for future users of the land, through change in land use or new land use. It cannot address existing land uses that have existing use rights under the Resource Management Act.”
Regional council general manager of regulatory services Reuben Fraser said it spent $500,000 a year to monitor the airshed via 11 stations 24/7. The data from these was available to the community through the council’s website.
Both councils were looking at how to achieve the community’s desire for cleaner air “and whether a move away from emitting industries in this area can be achieved over time”.
“Improving air quality in the Mount Industrial area requires a multi-agency approach and we are committed to working with Tauranga City Council, Te Whatu Ora, industry, and central government to improve air quality in this area,” Fraser said.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.