THE QUEENSLAND Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will install a system to monitor the air for toxic metals in Mt. Isa.
The system will be installed in October 2008 and will provide air samples to the EPA every hour, 24 hours a day.
The technology is being setup after dangerous lead levels in the city’s soil, water and air were found. It is alleged the contamination has been caused by Xstrata’s nearby mine.
The miner says the system will complement its own five monitoring stations. It claims to have had its own testing regimes in place for 33 years.
The EPA says the system has just been developed in the US and offers real-time heavy-metals detection.
Mt. Isa will be the first city in Australia to have its air monitored by a government agency.
The mining company is being sued by several parties as a result of the contaminations. It began operations to clean up sediment form the nearby Leichhardt River in May.
Dr Mark Taylor, from Macquarie University, claims to have found dangerous lead levels in the soil and water as early as 2001.
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