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Source: Reuters
A coal mine has been blamed for an outbreak of diarrhoea in a central Queensland town.
Most of the 437 people who live in Bluff, 94km east of Emerald in the Central Highlands, have had an unpleasant case of the 'runs' since water was discharged from the nearby Ensham coal mine after it was flooded by rain last year.
"I put it down to the water," resident Tim Cumming told AAP.
"I'm sure the old girl's not poisoning me. It can't be her cooking. I'd be dead by now if it was."
Cumming said the linking factor in the outbreaks of diarrhoea was the water supply.
"Look, we all can't be eating the same food ... we put it back to the water."
Cumming said the water from the Ensham mine flowed into the Nagoa River to Bedford Weir, from which Bluff obtains its drinking water.
The water then flows into the MacKenzie and Fitzroy rivers to Rockhampton.
Cumming said his major concern was the pollution of the region's rivers.
"We have to have coal mines to keep the bloody country afloat ... but on the other side, how about we look after our own backyard and clean up what we've got here," he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency allowed further discharges of water after recent falls of 120mm at the mine site.
After similar discharges last year, retired Monash University professor and international water quality expert Barry Hart said the discharge caused poor drinking water quality in communities along the rivers.
The discharges are also a worry for rural lobby group AgForce, which has, for some time, expressed concern about the impact of mining operations on water quality in central Queensland, given the intensity of mining in the region.
"This is causing concern for irrigators and livestock producers, as well as local communities, because of the potential long-term impact of salty water on farmland, livestock and river viability," said AgForce vice-president Ian Burnett.
