Peak environment and community groups are sounding the alarm over severe flaws in Vopak’s environmental assessment as the Vopak Victoria Energy Terminal Inquiry wrapped up this week, with the groups warning the controversial project poses a direct threat to the health of Port Phillip Bay.
Dutch multinational Vopak proposes to bring massive gas tankers from as far away as the Middle East right into the heart of Port Phillip Bay, where they will station a floating gas processing terminal.
Environment Victoria, Geelong Sustainability, ACF Geelong and community members have revealed that the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) prepared by Vopak falls well short of the expected industry and community standards on many keys points including:
– The EES relies heavily on untested assumptions rather than verifiable field surveys for species including the endangered southern hooded shrimp and critically endangered burrunan dolphin.
– Its environmental management framework is outdated and lacks an ecosystem impact assessment, while omitting measures to reduce or eliminate risks to critically endangered species including orange-bellied parrots, as well as little penguins.
– Biosecurity measures in light of bird flu are missing, despite the reality that is already impacting species that will be further affected by this proposal.
– The EES is riddled with errors including in its greenhouse gas assessments, whilst failing to show how the project will deliver promised additional gas by 2029 nor that $180 million price tag on the pipeline upgrades required that would need to be covered by Victorian tax payers.
– The EES fails to take into account a community petition with 8000 signatures that raises serious concerns about chlorinated discharges into Port Phillip Bay.
Dr Kat Lucas Healey, Senior Climate and Energy Advisor at Environment Victoria said:
“It is astonishing that thousands of pages of reports can contain so little. Vopak needs to go back to the drawing board and do the work required to properly assess the impacts of this project.”
“We found basic errors and major omissions, and Vopak’s response made it clear that they just don’t care. Our beloved Port Phillip Bay deserves so much better.”
“Gas projects harm our environment and cause climate pollution. We shouldn’t be shipping fossil fuels halfway around the world into Victoria, we should be doubling down on the switch to affordable, home-grown renewable energy.”
Dr Matt Edmunds, author of Vopak EES review from Australian Marine Ecology, said:
“The EES study was not done in accordance with scientific discipline. The study did not assess ecosystem-level impacts, or combined, cumulative impacts with other disturbances.”
“The EES did not include considerations of toxicant releases and the effects of electromagnetic fields from seabed power cables on migrating school sharks.”
“The proposed environmental management framework was reminiscent of approaches from the 1970s and did not follow modern best practices.”
Sal Fisher, ACF Geelong President, said:
“It was disappointing to see that in the midst of the bird flu crisis, Vopak proposes to drill close to and underneath precious habitat for critically endangered birds. We should be avoiding any additional pressure on wildlife, not adding to it.”