A Victorian coal-mine fire expelling potentially toxic smoke over a nearby town should be declared a state of emergency, Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber says.
There are concerns over the air quality in Morwell and high levels of carbon monoxide in the smoke pouring from the blaze in the Hazelwood open-cut mine which started two weeks ago.
"The first responsibility of a government is to protect its people and that is not happening in Morwell," Mr Barber said.
Victorian Health Minister David Davis denied this and said the situation was being treated as an emergency.
"This has been treated as an emergency and all formal powers that are required have been employed," Mr Davis said.
This includes setting up a respite centre in Moe to give residents relief from the smoky conditions.
A testing centre was also opened last week and staffed by the Health Department and Ambulance Victoria.
Mr Davis said 31 people have been tested for carbon monoxide levels and all tested below levels for concern.
Victoria's Chief Health Officer was monitoring the situation closely, Mr Davis said.
However, Australian Greens health spokesperson Dr Richard Di Natale said Morwell residents were being exposed to worrying levels of smoke containing carbon monoxide and other harmful substances which could have serious health impacts.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Country Fire Authority says it could take another two weeks to control the Hazelwoom open-cut mine blaze.
On Sunday the CFA said the use of compressed air foam was helping stop the fire from spreading and potentially reduce the amount of smoke affecting Morwell.
"This foam is useful but it won't solve the problem - it is another tactic to aid us but there is still a long way to go in this fire fight," incident controller Bob Barry said.
