By JONATHON HOWARD
A DAMNING report that highlights the possible health risks from coal seam gas mining in Tara was delivered to Member for Southern Downs and Health Minister Lawrence Springborg recently.
‘The Symptomatology of a Gas Field’ was compiled by Brisbane-based GP and anti-CSG campaigner Dr Geralyn McCarron.
Dr McCarron said she has concerns children could be experiencing damage to their nervous system, as some reported sensations of numbness and pins and needles.
“My feeling is that people’s concerns for their health have substance,” Dr McCarron, who has called for an intensive investigation to settle the debate, said.
She said the government research from Dr Keith Adam – a specialist in environmental medicine – and the Darling Downs Public Health Unit was not sufficient.
A spokesman for the minister said all complaints and concerns were taken seriously, but the minister stood by Queensland Health’s earlier report on Tara released in March.
The report, Coal Seam Gas in the Tara Region, found massive environmental changes in the area could have caused “solastalgia” – an affliction in which personal distress leads to physical symptoms.
The spokesman said the government was in regular contact with health providers in the Tara area and any complaint was monitored and investigated.
Describing her investigation as independent, Dr McCarron travelled to Tara – about two hours west of Toowoomba – for a total of nine days, including three trips.
She spoke to those who had complained of health issues and their neighbours, eventually listening to the views of 38 families, about 113 residents overall.
The majority – 58 per cent – reported some health issues, 19 per cent said they were unsure and the remainder reported no ill effects.
Dr McCarron said her findings showed an investigation by Queensland Health into possible risks of the gas industry to the community was flawed.
