[Greens-Media] Toxins Likely to Leak into Port Phillip Bay if Dredging Goes Ahead

[Amanda.Sharp at parliament.vic.gov.au]

28 September 2007

Report: Toxins Likely to Leak into Port Phillip Bay if Dredging Goes Ahead

At Ricketts Point today Sue Pennicuik, Greens MLC for the Southern
Metropolitan Region,  released a report on the SEES Inquiry into Channel
Deepening, which was held from 18 June to 31 July.

She pointed to one of the designated dredge material dumping grounds just
off shore, where the Port of Melbourne Corporation plans to dump dredge
material, some of it highly contaminated.

'The Port proposes to contain the dredged material underwater, by capping
it with clean sand. But the SEES states that contaminated material may
remain uncapped within the bund for any time between 14 days and five
years! During this time, toxic materials may diffuse into the Bay, damaging
the environment, impacting on marine life, washing up on Bay beaches and
posing risks to human health,' Ms Pennicuik said.

'I and many members others are concerned that the method of underwater
containment chosen by the Port to store contaminated dredge material, will
fail, causing toxics to leak into our Bay. The SEES states that the bund
has a design life of only 30 years. Many toxins last for much longer than
that,' she said.

'This report, prepared by my office, outlines the serious concerns about
channel deepening expressed by many presenters at the SEES Hearing,
including independent economists and scientists, retired harbour masters
and sea pilots, local councils, community groups and individual members of
the public. The fact that so many people were willing to volunteer
considerable time and effort to do this indicates that there are still
many, many serious problems with the channel deepening proposal,' she said.

Other concerns raised by the Report relate to:
•     Environmental impacts: particularly rock falls. After the trial
dredge program in 2005, erosion caused rocks at the Entrance to fall into
the Canyon of the Bay, including areas of the         adjacent marine
national park. On the second-last day of the Hearing, the Port revealed
studies which predicted that the Bay may take 30 years to recover from
damage cause by rock    falls – a dramatic increase on its previous
estimate;
•     Risks to human health – studies revealed by the Port of Melbourne
during the Inquiry predicted that channel deepening would result in
unacceptably high levels of contaminants in fish;
•     Risks to shipping safety raised by three experienced Port Phillip sea
pilots;
•     The dubious economics of the project; particularly the continued lack
of a financing plan;
•     The flawed nature of the SEES process, which did not allow for fair
and meaningful public participation, and was criticised by leading legal
figures.

The Panel will present its report and recommendations to the Minister for
Planning by October 1 2007. The recommendations will be considered by the
Government in determining whether or not to approve the Project.

'The community will be watching closely when the Minister makes his
decision,' said Ms Pennicuik.

For copies of the full report, contact the office of Sue Pennicuik on 9530
8399, or email sue.pennicuik at parliament.vic.gov.au.

For further information: Sue Pennicuik 0407 000 270



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