In a town like Gladstone where industry has a high profile, our community is very mindful of air quality. So more than two years ago community uncertainty about the health of Gladstone’s air led to the Clean and Healthy Air for Gladstone (CHAG) project.

On Thursday 5 August the CHAG project team will report back to the people of Gladstone. This will be your chance to find out for yourself whether there is anything in our air that may be of concern you or your family.

A key question I have often been asked is, “Why should I believe the findings of this Queensland Government report?”

For me, having watched the project for the past 18 months, the CHAG project team has been thorough, collaborative and transparent.

It has been thorough because for more than a year they have independently tested for over 160 contaminants at six Gladstone locations and assessed their results against international best practice air quality standards.

The CHAG team has been collaborative because they regularly and openly reported their progress, problems and findings to the CHAG Community Reference Group. As representatives of the Gladstone community, the CHAG team listened to the Community Reference Group.

One example of this was the CHAG team’s substantial increase to over 160 in the number of contaminants they monitored. This increase was done because it was requested by the Community Reference Group.

The team has been transparent because they published their monitoring results online in near real time and gave the Gladstone community an interim air quality report late last year. They also used an internationally recognised independent air quality expert from Victoria to review and further strengthen their project approach.

Some will no doubt claim that the CHAG process was not perfect and that the findings therefore can’t be believed. In reality, while no process is ever perfect, the CHAG project has become a case study of how to successfully complete a comprehensive community air quality study and is the envy of many other industry-based Australian communities.

If you are one of the 75% of Gladstone residents who told the Gladstone Industry Leadership Group last year that they were concerned about the potential health impacts of industry air emissions, the CHAG report is for you.

Your two chances to find out about the CHAG report's findings will be at the Grand Hotel Function Rooms from 12 noon to 1 pm and then again from 6 pm to 7 pm on Thursday 5 August. Once it is presented, the www.gilg.com.au home page will have a link to the final CHAG report.

I hope to see you at a presentation, cheers, Kurt.

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