The Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) estimated the costs of health damages associated with coal combustion for electricity in Australia amount to AUD2.6 billion per year. It is a social cost that falls particularly heavily on communities like Morwell in the Latrobe Valley, or in the Hunter Valley with substantial coal mining and coal fired electricity generation.

There are "stark differences" in health between people of the Latrobe Valley and the rest of the state. Both men and women die earlier than people in other areas - 3.4 years earlier for men, 2.2 for women. It has seven times the state average for asbestos-related disease, due to the use of the material in the early days of the power stations.

Morwell is one of the most disadvantaged towns in the country. A government inquiry into the Hazelwood mine fire revealed that the Latrobe Valley community had an "imminent and existing large-scale respiratory health problem" due to exposure to air pollution and high rates of smoking. The inquiry found that the fire itself had significant health impacts, particularly for those with existing conditions.

It also accepted expert evidence that "it is likely" that there was an increase in deaths and that "the most likely explanation" for at least some of those deaths was air pollution from the fire and possibly bushfires raging at the same time.

But the issues are deeper than the fire. The Australian Medical Association stated: "The risks withstood are not just those related to the exposure to harmful environmental factors arising from the 45-day fire causing a state of emergency, but also because of the ever present risks from harmful levels of air pollution due to proximity to the mining operations of the coal industry."

Hazelwood burns brown coal, which is one of the most polluting ways to produce electricity. And as a result, it pumps out more than 16 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution each year. That's almost 15 percent of Victoria's annual greenhouse gas emissions and 3 percent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. As well as being a huge greenhouse polluter, Hazelwood is also a massive user of water and emitter of dangerous pollutants. It uses 27 billion litres of water a year. That's almost as much water as the whole of Melbourne uses in a month. If Hazelwood was closed much of this water could be returned to the struggling Latrobe River which flows into the Gippsland Lakes. Furthermore, the National Pollutant Inventory shows that Hazelwood is the single largest source of dioxin pollution in Australia, as well as emitting 7,800 tonnes of hydrochloric acid each year. Read more here.

A 2014-2015 report by the Australian Department of the Enviroment shows the emission figures for the Hazelwood plant.

Asbestos The rate of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma among power industry workers was found to be seven times the national average. (Victorian State Government study, 2001). Latrobe Valley power industry workers die 15 years younger than the national average.

The power stations of the Latrobe Valley used asbestos widely in their construction. The substance was banned in Victoria in 2003. However, it's estimated that 146,000 employees and contractors, who worked in SEC plants from 1921 to the 1980s, were exposed to it. Between 1976 and 2008, AUD52.6 million has been paid to former SEC employees by the State Government insurance authority, and a further AUD369 million is expected to be paid out by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority to former employees.

In June 2010, the EPA confirmed it was investigating reports asbestos could be in one of Hazelwood Power Station's smoke stacks. A former worker claims to have lost his job after speaking out about asbestos at a health and safety meeting. Speaking to The Express newspaper he said, "It is not just in the stacks, it's everywhere, the place is riddled with it, Hazelwood has no duty of care to its workers or the public." Another worker, trained in asbestos identification, said for years Hazelwood management had ignored workers' concerns. International Power Hazelwood spokesperson Neil Lawson has responded, "It is well documented that there is still an amount of contained asbestos material which, if required, is being progressively and safely removed by specialised licensed contractors during major plant outages and maintenance activities." The same newspaper subsequently reported comments by the EPA that the Hazelwood business had no case to answer and that asbestos fibres were not present in its smokestacks.