Breach means 5 more years of air quality monitoring
The inland town is the only one on the West Coast with a gazetted airshed, meaning the regional council has a statutory duty to measure the levels of particulate matter (PM) in the air.
The particles can penetrate lungs, enter the blood stream and pose a high risk for the elderly, pregnant women and people with respiratory problems.
At the council's resource management committee meeting on Tuesday senior science technician Emma Perrin-Smith reported that on June 11, the level of PM10s in the air reached 72 microns per cubic metre, well over the national standard of 50 microns.
The result was measured at the council's old air testing site, not at the newer site near the Reefton Area School monitored by Lawa (Land, Air, Water Aotearoa), Ms Perrin-Smith said.
The town had recently come close to meeting the New Zealand air quality standards with several years without any breaches.
But the June reading meant the council would have to continue testing the air for another five years, Ms Perrin-Smith said.
The national standard, at present based on PM10s, would be even harder to meet if the government changed the standard to measure even smaller particles — PM2.5s — which was on the cards, she warned.
Neither Reefton nor Westport would be likely to meet that standard.
The regional council began testing the air in Westport in 2023 and while there were no breaches, it found domestic fires were responsible for 76% of the PM10s in the air.
Other sources were sea salt, wind-borne soil and vehicle emissions.
Sea salt was harmless, but toxic arsenic and lead were also detected from the burning of treated timber and old paint, the council's State of the Environment Report said.
The council would continue monitoring Westport's air quality through 2025, and the data would be analysed to decide if that should continue.
Preliminary air quality investigations had also begun in Greymouth and Hokitika and permanent air quality monitoring stations could be set up in those towns, depending on the results, the report said.
- By Lois Williams
■LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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