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State of Air Quality in Tasman District
Tasman District’s air quality is generally good, but wood-burning releases too many fine particles into the air, resulting in winter-time smog. This is a particular problem in Richmond. Preliminary surveys of Motueka, Brightwater and Wakefield suggest that air quality in those towns is good, apart from a small area of Brightwater.
Other air quality issues in Tasman District are:
- Rural outdoor burn-offs - many people call council about this issue. Burn-offs occur mainly in early winter and particularly on horticultural land;
- Major discharges from industry - information gathered as part of conditions of resource consents for discharge to air show no significant effects at this point;
- Pesticide spray drift – these issues are generally localised and limited to particular sites;
- Greenhouse gas emissions - emissions of carbon dioxide and methane are managed at a national level by the Ministry for the Environment.
Air Quality Standards
The National Environmental Standard for Air Quality as set by the Ministry for the Environment requires that fine particles (finer than 10 micron; called PM10) must not average over 50 µg/m3 over a 24-hour period for more than one day each year. Richmond has been the only place in Tasman where breaches of this standard are known to occur and this is the only designated airshed requiring improvement under this legislation.
Further Information
Assessing long-term trends in PM10 emissions and concentrations in Richmond
Spatial Variation of particulate air pollution in Chrischurch and Nelson/Richmond during winter 2008