SHIRE of Northam has been selected by the Department of Water and Environment Regulation (DWER) for air quality monitoring despite being under the 25,000-population threshold.
DWER monitors the air quality of Perth and regional areas to understand air quality trends, and the long term impacts they have on communities in the state.
Monitoring is carried out according to the requirements of the national environment protection measure and collected into air quality reports that look at the concentration of certain pollutants in the air.
According to a DWER fact sheet, air quality pollutants monitored in WA include carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, photochemical oxidants resulting from industrial activities, motor vehicles and bushfires that lead to smog and sulphur dioxide.
Small particles in the air that can be harmful to humans, including man-made particles resulting from industrial activities and from natural sources like bushfires, dust storms, marine aerosols and pollen are also monitored.
Airborne particles are commonly classified by size in terms of their equivalent aerodynamic diameter according to DWER.
Northam now joins 15 other air quality monitoring sites including Caversham, Armadale, Duncraig, Quinns Rocks, Rolling Green, Rockingham, South Lake, Swanbourne, Mandurah, Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Collie, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie.
Under the National Environment Protection Council (Western Australia) Act 1996, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation monitors air pollutants in towns with populations over 25,000.
The latest WA air monitoring report made available to the public is the 2022 report which was last updated on November 4, 2024.
The reason for the latest addition of the Shire of Northam to the monitored regional sites was not explained in official announcements but regional monitoring sites at Bunbury, Busselton, Collie and Albany were established to monitor smoke from prescribed burns according to DWER’s 2022 WA air monitoring report.
The report states the Geraldton site was established to monitor windblown crustal material and smoke from bushfires, prescribed burns, agricultural stubble burning and wood-fired home heaters while the Kalgoorlie site was established to monitor particles from windblown crustal material and smoke, and sulphur dioxide from industry.
The latest version of the legislation states the national environment protection protocol requires each participating jurisdiction to ensure that a monitoring plan is made, setting out how the jurisdiction proposes to monitor air quality and that each monitoring plan must be submitted to council.
Air quality or related matters may be directed to info@dwer.wa.gov.au
The latest state air monitoring reports may also be accessed by visiting the air quality page on the state government website.
