Casino CSG - Pesticides not OK

Queensland Health says it does not believe coal seam gas (CSG) exploration is causing health problems in the state's southern inland.

Members of the Lock the Gates alliance held a rally near Tara yesterday to highlight the plight of residents who they say have reported headaches, nose bleeds and rashes as a result of air and water pollution associated with CSG activity.

The alliance says there is a lack of action by the health department to examine the health impacts of CSG extraction.Spokesman Drew Hutton says repeated calls to Health Minister Lawrence Springborg to investigate the concerns.

However, in a statement, a department spokesman says there has not been an unusual increase in patients with those symptoms and it is working with GPs to establish any patterns of illness.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-06/qld-health-downplays-csg-fears/4114026?section=qld


Rare birth defect cluster in Wadeville - Northern Rivers

Pesticide and herbicide used in the region are causing birth defects? - Gastroschisis
Wadeville sits between Kyogle and Nimbin.

JESSICA van VONDEREN: To a disturbing and moving story about a mysterious cluster of birth defects on the Queensland / New South Wales border. Brisbane doctors and New South Wales Health authorities are trying to find out why so many babies in a small rural community are born with the same rare abnormality. The medical condition of Gastroschisis is on the rise worldwide, but no one knows why. A warning some viewers may find the medical images in this story distressing. Carrow Meldrum-Hanna reports.

Watch the ABC report here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/05/13/3216642.htm?site=northcoast