Australia Delays Decision on Giant Tasmanian Pulp Mill

The minister was widely expected to approve the proposal today, but in a surprise move Garrett instead decided not to approve modules L, M and N of the draft Environmental Impact Management Plan submitted by the Tasmanian corporation Gunns "until after all the facts are on the table."

"National environment legislation requires that I take a precautionary approach to environmental protection," Garret said in a statement. "I am not satisfied, with that in mind and informed by the advice of the Independent Expert Group, that I can grant final approval for this mill without fully understanding its potential environmental impacts."

Bell Bay on the Tamar River, site of the proposed Gunns pulp mill (Photo courtesy Tamar Pulp Mill Info)

"That includes having a thorough understanding of the potential impacts of the mill's effluent discharge on Commonwealth marine waters and absolute confidence in the proposed management and response strategies that are proposed to put in place to protect the environment," Garrett said.

Garrett says Gunns must complete a series of environmental tests before it is granted final approval for the project. Gunns will now have until March 3, 2011, to resubmit the rejected modules of its proposal.

The pulp mill is planned for a location at Bell Bay in the Tamar Valley, north of the city of Launceston. Effluent from the mill would be discharged into the Tamar River, which flows into Bass Strait, the body of water separating the island state of Tasmania from mainland Australia to the north.

Gunns has expressed confidence in what it calls "the world's greenest pulp mill," even though the project has been again delayed.

Gunns chairman John Gay hailed today's decision as a significant achievement for the Tamar Valley mill, despite the Commonwealth's refusal to approve three modules relating to the discharge of effluent into Bass Strait.

Gay has welcomed the approval of 13 of the 16 environmental modules needed for the mill to go ahead.

Gay says today's conditional approval gives the company the green light to begin construction once it secures financing. The company has been struggling to find financial backers for the project in view of the global economic crisis. Negotiations with a banking syndicate and potential joint venture partners are underway, he said.

The Federal Opposition Liberal Party says Garrett is trying to hide the fact he already has approved construction of the Gunns pulp mill.

Garrett criticized his predecessor, former environment minister and current opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, saying the former minister's approval conditions for the mill contained "inconsistencies."

Greens Senator Christine Milne, who represents Tasmania, says Gunns did not comply with the original requirement to complete the marine modeling.

"It has been obvious from day one that a chlorine dioxide bleaching pulp mill would pollute Bass Strait and that tertiary treatment would be required," Senator Milne said. "Gunn's has had since 2004 to prove otherwise but has failed to do so."

Gunns says wood for the mill would be sourced from eucalyptus plantations. (Photo courtesy Gunns)

Garrett's decision to effectively give Gunn's an extension of two more years to do the hydro dynamic modeling in Bass Strait is "a body blow to Tasmanians and puts the pulp mill squarely on the 2010 federal election agenda," Milne said today.

"This pulp mill is not environmentally sound, it has never been environmentally sound, it has poisoned the body politics in Tasmania and it deserves to have been ended today," she said.

The Wilderness Society, which has fought the pulp mill for years, said it should be abandoned for the benefit of the community and the natural environment.

"Minister Garrett has indicated that he is not satisfied with aspects of the Environmental Impact Management Plan, pointing to serious problems that remain for the project," Wilderness Society Paul Oosting said today. "This is despite a flawed assessment that never looked at the massive impact the pulp mill would have on Tasmania's native forests and the greenhouse pollution emitted by logging those forests."

"This part approval leads to the ludicrous situation where construction on the mill can begin, without a full understanding of the impacts that running the mill would have on the marine environment and native forest ecosystems."

"Peter Garrett has allowed the cart to go before the horse, for construction to begin before he knows all of the environmental impacts," Oosting said.

The Wilderness Society says this two-year extension comes on top of the one already granted in 2008 and could breach legal parameters and open up an avenue of legal appeal of any approval.

"This second extension of time could breach the original conditions set down by Malcolm Turnbull and open up another avenue of legal challenge to the validity of the approval," said Oosting.

If the mill is approved, Garrett announced that a new condition would be imposed. Gunns would be subject to criminal and civil sanctions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act if the mill exceeds certain environmental limits.

"Under this new condition, civil penalties of up to $1.1 million per offense can be imposed on Gunns," said Garrett, "and it also provides the basis for future variation, suspension or revocation of the mill's environmental approval."

If the mill is built, a mixture of wood from regrowth native forests, pine and eucalypt plantations will be used, Gay says. Within five years of operation the wood supply will be 80 percent plantation based. No old growth forests, as defined by the Regional Forest Agreement, will be used to supply this mill, Gunns promises.

But opponents of the mill say it will use mainly native forest in the first few years, destroying large tracts of one of the Southern Hemispheres' last temperate forests. These forests support endangered animals such as the wedge-tailed eagle, Tasmanian devil, giant freshwater crayfish and the swift parrot.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.