Overnight and morning fogs occur in Autumn and Winter on still nights in the valley making driving dangerous. Will the continuous stream of water vapour from the mill make these worse?
There is no mention of fogs and smogs in Gunns Ltd literature and statements.
Gunns Ltd: 'The minimal emissions will predominantly be water vapour and carbon dioxide'.
Comment: Water - it's just part of the natural World. Yes it is, but it's also the chief ingredient of fog and smog. The huge volumes of water vapour expelled into our inversion layer together with sulphur dioxide and particulates could well affect fog and smog levels in our valley.
NTDG study tour: Mr Ireland was concerned about a cloud of steam that surrounded the mill at Stendal - although that may partly be due to very cold weather. The Tamar valley gets cold in Winter, Mr Ireland! And there's an inversion layer at Longreach that will hold it all in.
Here is a picture of a pulpmill in Canada:
RPDC final scope: ' The effect of steam plumes on the frequency of occurrence of fog events and the impacts of roads in the vicinity is to be detailed.'
IIS: The author cannot find any reference to this potential problem except a statement that the pulpmill will not alter the weather in the valley (the picture above would appear to contradict this statement). The Beca AMEC peer review says exactly the same thing.Comment: It looks as though the RPDC consider this an issue too.
This is what Dr.Raverty said in his lecture about this subject:
This is a real issue with a tonne of water vapour expelled into the atmosphere for every tonne of pulp produced.
In Alabama, USA, there is a drying facility that produces water vapour in similar quantities and this produces
'white-outs' on local highways that have been responsible for multiple pile-ups and deaths. These 'white-outs' are
most likely to occur on the East Tamar Highway as it passes the Longreach site.
VERDICT: It looks as though opponents have the edge on this one but time will tell.
Footnote: The Tamar valley, Launceston and the airport already has fog and smog problems in Autumn and Winter.
