EPA sets tougher emissions limits on nitrogen oxides at Vales Point Power Station

The NSW Environment Protection Authority issued the direction on Wednesday after assessing an application from Delta Electricity to extend an exemption from the emission limit for NOx.

EPA Executive Director Regulatory Operations Stephen Beaman said the licence variation followed independent technical advice and expert modelling, discussions with NSW Health and a public consultation which received more than 1,800 submissions.

"The EPA has heard the concerns of the community and, based on our assessment and air quality modelling, we have tightened NOx limits from the original application, to significantly reduce the emissions from Vales Point," Mr Beaman said.

"In addition, we have imposed strict new reporting and monitoring requirements to keep the community informed through a range of special operating conditions. We've also imposed a Pollution Reduction Program which will ensure the facility continues to make improvements."

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From 1 January 2022 Vales Point will be required to meet the following reduced limits to comply with the new National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure 2021 (NEPM) standard for NO2 in the local community:

Vales Point will also be required to install a new ambient air quality monitoring station at Wyee Point for NOx, sulfur oxides (SOx) and PM2.5 by 1 July 2022.

But environment and health groups that had urged the EPA to fully reject Delta's application said the new requirements would have no impact on pollution levels from the power station and health impacts such as child asthma would continue to rise.

"Air pollution not only increases the prevalence of child asthma, but also leads to heart disease, chronic bronchitis, COPD, heart attacks and strokes - there is no safe level of pollution," Kincumber general practitioner Ian Charlton said.

"While the government's response to COVID-19 focused on prevention, the cost of Vales Point's pollution will be felt in our clinics and hospitals."

Six health organisations, including Healthy Futures, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Lung Foundation Australia, Doctors for the Environment Australia and the Climate and Health Alliance wrote to the EPA urging it to reject Delta's application.

"We know from NSW Health that power stations are the third-largest cause of harm from fine particulate pollution in NSW, greater than every diesel vehicle on the roads" emergency medicine registrar and conjoint fellow with the University of Newcastle Dr Jazmin Daniells said.

Acting Nature Conservation Council chief executive Jacqui Mumford described the decision as a bitter disappointment for the Central Coast community.

"The EPA has locked in another five years of respiratory disease for the Central Coast community," she said.

"An estimated 650 children on the Central Coast and at Lake Macquarie suffer asthma because of the pollution that comes from coal-fired power stations like Vales Point.

"The EPA has squandered an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of people, and further diminished its public reputation as a consequence."

In a statement, Delta it hoped the amendments to the Vales Point Environment Protection Licence would allay community concerns about local air quality.

"The granting of the licence amendment reinforces the scientific data that the Central Coast has the best air quality in the Greater Metropolitan region, with clear evidence that motor vehicles are by far the highest contributor to NOx readings at ground level in the region," it said.

"Whilst the new NOx limit is onerous from a compliance perspective, Delta has continued to invest in improvements and processes which will assist it to meet these new obligations."

The new regulations are to be reviewed by the EPA in 2022.

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