Bass Coast Shire Council, 76 McBride Avenue, Wonthaggi, VIC 3995 | www.basscoast.vic.gov.au

21 August 2008
EES ASSISTANCE NEEDED

Bass Coast Shire Council and the Your Water Your Say action group are calling on the community to help respond to the Environment Effects Statement (EES).
The EES was released on 20 August 2008 and submissions must be lodged by 30 September2008.

Bass Coast Shire Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Allan Bawden, confirmed that Council would work closely with Your Water Your Say (YWYS) to prepare their response. “The EES is a massive document of 1,600 pages and over 80 technical reports,” said Mr Bawden. “To undertake a detailed study of the EES is a massive task and we will work closely with the action group to make the best use of available resources.”

Mr Bawden said there was an important role for the community to play in preparing the submission. “Individuals can make their own submissions,” said Mr Bawden. “But we are also hoping that there are people in the community who would be able to help Council and YWYS with their submissions. “People may have a particular area of expertise, such as engineering or the marine environment,” explained Mr Bawden. “For others, it could be their knowledge of the local area that would be invaluable.
“If you are interested in the project and have time available to be part of the working group, we would be very eager to hear from you.”

If you are interested in assisting Council, then please call Ella Godbold on 1300 BCOAST (226 278) or email e.godbold@basscoast.vic.gov.au.

A hard copy of the EES is on display at the Bass Coast Civic Centre, 76 McBride Avenue,Wonthaggi.

Hard copies of the EES are also on display at the Desalination Project Office in Wonthaggi.
Office hours at the Project Office have been extended to five days a week during the exhibition period.
Copies are also available on CD and online at www.ourwater.vic.gov.au.
Hard copies can be purchased from the DSE Desalination Project Team by phoning 1800 811 214 or 5671 3900,
or by emailing desalination.project@dse.vic.gov.au.

END

Bass Coast Shire Council, 76 McBride Avenue, Wonthaggi, VIC 3995 | www.basscoast.vic.gov.au

20 August 2008
EES UNDER SCRUTINY

The release of the Environment Effects Statement (EES) for the Victorian Desalination Project has not changed Bass Coast Shire Council’s opposition to the proposed plant. Bass Coast Shire Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Allan Bawden, said it was no surprise that the Government were saying there would be no long-term or irreversible damage to the environment.
“On initial inspection, the findings of the EES certainly do not appear to impede the Government’s decision to build a desalination plant,” said Mr Bawden.
“We will be undertaking a detailed study of the report. The EES is a very large document, over 1,600 pages, and we have had a copy for less than 24 hours.
“Council will be looking closely at the report’s assessment of the impact on the local and marine environment,” continued Mr Bawden.
“The assessment of the social and economic impact on our region is also of great interest to us.”

Mr Bawden said the Bass Coast community were very concerned about these aspects of the project and it was important to ensure the findings are accurate.
“Council intend to make a detailed submission in response to the EES,” confirmed Mr Bawden. “We will be seeking expert advice on the technical reports and making sure that any aspect of the EES that doesn’t adequately address our concerns will be presented at the independent panel hearings that are part of the ongoing EES process.”

Bass Coast Shire Council is calling on the community to get involved in the EES process. “It is very important that community members make submissions,” said Mr Bawden. “We are also calling on members of the community who have expertise in any technical area covered by the EES to meet with Council and assist us with our assessment.”

Council has called on the State Government to roll out a consultation program to assist the community to understand the EES and how to respond to it.

The EES report consists of five key components, as well as 11 volumes of technical reports.
The structure of the report covers:
- Marine structures
- Desalination plant
- Water transfer pipeline
- Power supply
- Whole of project assessment

“We will be looking closely at the report on the plant sizing, including the visual impact and architectural and landscape performance requirements, such as building height, vegetation buffers, lighting etc,” said Mr Bawden. “We will also be closely inspecting the section relating to the power supply for the plant.
“Council has already made it clear that any power supply option must have underground transmission lines for the entire route within Bass Coast.
“It appears that the only power supply option that has been fully assessed by the EES is based around the North to South grid connection, with 200KV overhead transmission lines. “This means it is highly likely to be the option adopted by the company that wins the tender to build the plant, which is a major concern,” said Mr Bawden.

Mr Bawden said Bass Coast’s initial concerns about the scope of the EES still remain. “There were a number of things excluded from investigation which Council and the community still feel need to be addressed,” said Mr Bawden. “The State Government has never provided information to justify why desalination was
chosen as a major part of the Government’s Water plan. There has also been no investigation into alternative sitings or technology for the desalination project.”

A hard copy of the EES is on display at the Bass Coast Civic Centre, 76 McBride Avenue, Wonthaggi.

Hard copies of the EES are also on display the Desalination Project Office in Wonthaggi.
Office hours at the Project Office have been extended to five days a week during the exhibition period.
Copies are also available on CD and on line at www.ourwater.vic.gov.au.
Hard copies can be purchased from the DSE Desalination Project Team by phoning 1800 811 214 or 5671 3900,
or by emailing desalination.project@dse.vic.gov.au.

Closing date for written submissions is 5pm on 30 September 2008.

END

Greenhouse emissions during the construction of the plant, and about 70,000 tonnes from waste decomposition and transport during its operation, will not be offset.

Please continue in The Age - 21 August 2008 - Environmental study gives desal plant green light

20th August 2008

EES REPORTS ARE TOO LATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The Your Water Your Say Action Group is heartened to see that 12 months after the State Government announced it is to build the largest desalination plant in Australia on the Bass Coast, they have finally published the environmental assessments of the project.
After the Government, the DSE and numerous consultants have spent 12 months working on the assessments, the public will have only 5 weeks to review over 1600 pages of highly technical and complex documents.

YWYS President, Andrea Bolch says that this highlights the absolute inequity in this process. “The public, who have to do this in their spare time and at their own expense have only 5 weeks to review this enormous report that has taken full time, highly paid consultants, 12 months to prepare.” The system is totally biased and does not allow the public to fully and properly engage in the process.

To emphasise this point, the public is being charged around $250 for a full set of the documents in hard copy. Given this is, at minimum, a $3.1 billion project with consultants already paid millions of dollars, this is an insult to be pinching pennies from the public.

Ms. Bolch says “The Government designed EES terms of reference specifically narrow to get the evaluations and outcome that they wanted that would simply support their decision. The EES does not include any evaluation of the water augmentation options available to Melbourne and there is no doubt this report does not include costing information for the public, who will pay for this plant, to really understand what the real cost will be.”

This is a process intended to make it look like the public is involved but it is a farce. The EES is not designed to determine “IF” the project should go ahead but has become the blueprint for the tenderers to build the plant. It will no doubt set out a number of conditions that will simply need to be met by the contractors when developing their submissions.

Construction of the project has already begun without any environmental assessments being released. Expressions of Interest to build the main plant have already been completed without any knowledge of the environmental impacts it will have. The Brumby Government has said from the day the plant was announced that “it will be built” and this was without knowing its environmental consequences.

When the EES process was established 30 years ago it was set up to ensure that decisions were taken with full knowledge of the environmental consequences. This Government has turned the whole intent of the EES process on its head by making the decision with no information on the environmental consequences, designing a scope of reference to get the outcome they want and then using that information to support their decision.

The EES has been reduced to being nothing more than a highly stage managed process that enables the Government to stand up and say they have the assessments that support the decision they took 12 months ago.

YWYS is still in limbo with the Government as yet undecided as to whether or not it will pursue the organisation for court costs. How can we legitimately participate in a process with a sword hanging over our heads that could stop us from properly participating and contesting the EES.
END

For more information contact:

Name: Chris Heislers
Phone: 0419 556 381
Email: heislers@netspace.net.au

Name: Andrea Bolch
Phone: 0400 065 253
Email: abolch@austarnet.com.au

Click here to read Melbourne Water’s response letter

Click here to have a look at the comparison between Desalination and Recycling

19 August 2008

WATER REPORT MUST BE MADE PUBLIC

The Brumby Government has moved to ensure that ordinary Victorians are locked out of debate over the future of the State’s water supply.

A refusal to release documents requested under the Freedom of Information laws means the public may never get to see a report believed to contain details of a $1.86 billion potable water recycling option at the Eastern Treatment Plant.

The Freedom of Information request was made by the Clean Ocean Foundation, which sought the release of a State Government-commissioned report entitled Water Smart Water Supply – Demand Strategy for Melbourne (Water Substitution) April 2006.

The request was rejected by Melbourne Water on the grounds that it could lead to “unnecessary debate”.

The Clean Ocean Foundation believes the report contains definitive figures that show Victoria’s water supply could be boosted at less than half the cost of desalination and with far less environmental impact.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has so far refused to explain why he chose the most costly and environmentally-destructive method of securing the State’s water supply when other options were available.

In the interests of openness and accountability, this report must be made public. If there are better options for supplementing our water supply, the public has a right to know about them.

Labor won the last State election on a policy of ‘no desalination plant’, saying desalination was too dependent on energy and would have negative impacts on climate change abatement.

In light of this, Victorians have a right to know the reasons why Mr Brumby has changed his mind.

Media enquiries: Tina McGuffie on 5979 3188 or 0417 361 732

The first question is how much extra water is needed. Last year was a drought year. Even so, water into the catchment matched the water used. So why do we need the world’s biggest desalination plant, which would add 40% to capacity with a 30-year “take or pay” public-private partnership (PPP) contract?

Please continue in The Age - 18 August - Common sense goes down the drain

PETER KER
August 16, 2008

But in a twist for such a major industrial project, the effects statement will focus on visual amenity — a move that is likely to drive up costs.

The Age - Sat 16 Aug - Visual design key for desalination plant

Speaking after being appointed as chairman of the new climate change reference group, Professor Karoly said the Government had an “interesting definition” of what cutting emissions meant.

Please read on in The Age - Sat 16 Aug - State ‘failing to grasp’ urgency of climate change

Even so, no state policy area has been subject to so much hand wringing and so many reviews. Some 89 different water saving and supply options are listed on the Government’s website. These examine several big augmentations. Some, like the Wonthaggi desalination plant, have outrageously high costs per megalitre of water. Other options explore minor augmentations. Included are measures such as retrofitting dual-flush toilets. This saves trivial amounts of water at an even greater cost per megalitre than the desalination plant.

Please continue to read in The Age - Wed 13 Aug - Dam good idea holds water