Michelle Slater
ENGIE has told a community meeting in Morwell that it would welcome expressions of interest from organisations willing to take responsibility for the Hazelwood Pondage following a question from Latrobe City mayor Darrell White.
The energy company used a community forum at the Italian Australian Club in Morwell on Wednesday evening to update about 50 people on the status of the mine rehabilitation.
However, the future of Hazelwood Pondage and any potential environmental impacts of water being released and sent downstream dominated public questions.
Cr White raised concerns about the pondage’s temporary closure and the impact on recreational users such as the yacht club and Sailability program.
He asked if ENGIE was taking a proactive approach to finding someone else to take responsibility for managing the pondage if its water levels could be maintained.
Hazelwood rehabilitation project director Tony Innocenzi said “it was no secret” they had been in discussions with government agencies and other bodies about the pondage.
“We are not in an advertisement campaign but we are happy for other people such as council or other bodies to make enquiries on our behalf,” Mr Innocenzi said.
“We have no long-term need for the pondage, and no need to maintain it but we understand its connection as a recreational asset.”
ENGIE is awaiting engineering reports into the pondage wall after it found integrity problems in June.
The Environment Protection Authority recently approved increased water releases into Eel Hole Creek to reduce pressure on the wall.
Mr Innocenzi said it was not an easy decision to close the pondage and he could not predict its future until engineering reports were peer-reviewed and released in September.
“The original construction materials were not of modern standards and the construction quality was not of the standards of today. They were not designed to withstand seismic events,” he said.
“This is not about maintenance but about the original construction which has revealed real concerns.”
ENGIE also acknowledged concerns from people about potential risks of the pondage being drained to fill the Hazelwood mine void as part of mine rehabilitation plans.
Some raised issues about the presence of coal silt in the pondage, PFAS, or the impact of salinisation in the Gippsland Lakes if water was diverted out of the Morwell River to fill the mine.
Hazelwood environment regulation manager Ross Brooker said all water being discharged was regularly tested by independent authorities.
“All discharge from Hazelwood is regulated by our EPA discharge licence and is regularly tested on a daily or weekly basis for a range of parameters,” Mr Brooker said. “We make sure we are compliant with our discharge licence. Rest assured – it’s highly regulated.”
Hazelwood mine technical services manager James Faithful said it was working with regulatory bodies and technical experts to ensure there would be no local or downstream impacts as a result of rehabilitation activities.
