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LETTERS |
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Concerned families and businesses are
urged to write to the Premier and relevant State Government
Ministers.
Please read and download letters below, add
your address, sign (or type in name) and post, email
or fax letters. |
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Minister for the Environment
The Hon David Templeman MLA
Minister for the Environment
29th Floor, Allendale Square
77 St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
Dear Minister
PUBLIC INTEREST CONFLICTS WITH DIAMOND MILL AS SITE FOR BIOMASS
POWER PLANT
I write to seek clarification from you of a
statement in relation to you in the
Public Environmental Review
for
the Biomass Power Plant, Diamond Mill, Manjimup
(January 2008, page 50) which says “The Minister
supports the introduction of a regulation allowing
leases in State forests for purposes that would have
public benefit, such as the biomass power plant.”.
The context is that the Biomass Power Plant is
proposed to be located in State Forest at Diamond
Mill.
Minister, please reply and advise me what public
benefit is gained from locating this polluting
industrial activity at Diamond Mill in State Forest
with the current application based on
380,000 tonnes per annum of
Tasmanian bluegum and pine fuel sourced from up to
100 kilometres away, not from the State Forest near
Diamond Mill? There are three classified district
industrial estates closer to the source of the wood
fuel.
There is only a commercial interest for the
proponents in locating at Diamond Mill, to save on
power line costs because of proximity to the
Manjimup electricity substation. Against this
commercial interest of a multinational consortium,
there are two demonstrable major conflicts with
public interests.
Firstly, the Western Australian Planning Commission
published the ‘Warren-Blackwood Region Industrial
Sites Study’ in July 2007 and in regard to
Diamond Mill the Study stated “Diamond
Mill has the existing Lambert siding and the main
Manjimup substation located at the site; however
these benefits are mitigated by the conservation
issues and possible conflicts with the planning
objectives of protecting this vegetation and
protecting prime agricultural land.” (page 9).
The Study concluded “In consideration of
sites with existing industry it was identified that
North Greenbushes, Manjimup and Hester have
industrial expansion potential and the study
recommends that these sites provide the short-medium
term opportunities for sub-regional industries and
are classified as district industrial estates.”
(page 59). The initial version of the Study
published in June 2005 made the same conclusions.
The Department of Environment and Conservation
were represented on the Industrial Sites Study
Steering Committee by the Manager for the Warren
Region.
Secondly, the Department of Water submission to the
EPA on the Public Environmental Review
objects to the Biomass Power Plant being located at
Diamond Mill because energy industry facilities are
an incompatible land use in proclaimed public
drinking water source areas under the Country
Areas Water Supply Act 1947. The Department of
Water has identified the Biomass Power Plant
proposed to be located in the Warren Water
Reserve at Diamond Mill as a threat to the
drinking water supply to the town of Pemberton and
future public drinking water supplies from the
Warren River catchment. The Department of Water
recommends the Biomass Power Plant be located north
of Bridgetown.
Information obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act 1992 evidences the Shire of
Manjimup ignored the Western Australian Planning
Commission Warren-Blackwood Region Industrial
Sites Study when writing to Connell Wagner on 27
August 2007 suggesting the Diamond Mill site to them
as consultants for Western Australia Biomass Pty
Ltd. In August 2007 the Biomass Power Plant was at
late stage planning for Hester, north of Bridgetown.
The Shire of Manjimup was negligent in attracting
the project to Diamond Mill, ignoring both WA
Planning Commission strategy and water resource
management legislation.
I await your reply on ‘public benefit’ justifying a
regulation for use of the Diamond Mill site for the
proposed Biomass Power Plant when there are two
demonstrable major conflicts with the public
interest.
Yours sincerely
(download
and print letter)
If you wish to email
or fax downloaded letter:
Email:
david-templeman@dpc.wa.gov.au Fax:
92214665 |
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Premier
Hon Alan Carpenter MLA
Premier
197 St George's Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
Dear Premier
KARRI FOREST AS FUEL FOR BIOMASS POWER
GENERATION
I write to seek your assurance that the Karri
forest will not be used as fuel for biomass
power generation. My grounds for concern are:
·
a Biomass Power Plant of 40MW capacity is
proposed for Diamond Mill, Manjimup,
with the current application
based on
380,000 tonnes per annum of
Tasmanian bluegum and pine fuel sourced from up
to 100 kilometres away;
·
the Minister for Forestry
on 29 November 2007 in answer to Parliamentary
Question 5603 said Karri, Jarrah and Marri will
be offered by tender to energy markets;
·
in a 25 January 2008 letter responding to
private questions on this, the Minister for
Forestry said “I understand that the Manjimup
biomass plant in question does not intend, under
its current application process, to utilise fuel
from native forest residues. Should the project
ever reach a stage where it wished to expand its
operation, that expansion would be subject of a
further assessment process.”;
·
it is reasonably foreseeable that such energy generation using
Karri, Jarrah and Marri will be conducted within
the Diamond Mill precinct near Manjimup, taking
advantage of the extensive network of roads
previously used for the ‘Marri Woodchip
Project’, for transport cost savings; and
·
it is reasonably foreseeable that
Karri, Jarrah and Marri will be burnt in the proposed
Biomass Power Plant at Diamond Mill, as a
commercially advantageous variation to the
380,000 tonnes per annum wood fuel mix for the
40MW capacity, and for expansion beyond 40MW
output.
Premier, in the Minister for Forestry’s answer
to
Parliamentary Question 5603 he said Karri,
Jarrah and Marri ‘forest residue’ and ‘forest
waste’ will be used for energy markets. These
‘forest residue’ and ‘forest waste’ terms are
precisely the same terms that were used to
justify the notorious 'Marri Woodchip Project',
where Marri was described as residue and waste
from clear felling, and millions of tonnes were
squandered as wood chips. Now, Marri is in
demand for furniture and flooring; exemplifying
'forest residue’ and ‘forest waste' is misused
terminology.
I am sure you would agree, there must not be
another assault on the Karri forest as there was
for the 'Marri Woodchip Project'. In June 1999
you said in the Legislative Assembly “Woodchipping
began in Western Australia in about 1973 and
there was immediate public opposition to it.”……
“People could see then the environmental
catastrophe that would result, just as they told
the Western Australian farming community that
over-clearing would lead to an environmental
catastrophe, and it has.” Your words then
are equally applicable now if your Government
allows Karri, Jarrah and Marri to be burnt for
electricity generation. I believe the proposed
Biomass Power Plant at Diamond Mill is a ‘Trojan
horse’ that will lead to an assault on the Karri
forest as an energy resource, causing
justifiable public opposition.
Premier, please reply and assure me the Karri
forest will not be used and abused for biomass
power generation. Western Australia exports $4
billion worth of natural gas annually; surely we
have sufficient clean natural gas for
electricity generation in WA as an alternative
to burning the Karri forest?
I look forward to your prompt and personal
reply.
Yours sincerely
(download
and print letter)
If you wish to email
or fax downloaded letter:
Email:
wa-government@dpc.wa.gov.au Fax:
93221213 |
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Concerned families and businesses are
urged to write to relevant State Government
Ministers to request their departments make
submissions to the Environmental Protection
Authority on the Public Environmental Review.
Please read and download letters below, add
your address, sign and post letters to the
Ministers, URGENTLY, by 22 February 2008. |
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Minister for Planning and Infrastructure
The Hon Alannah MacTiernan MLA
Minister for Planning and Infrastructure
13th Floor, Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
WEST PERTH WA 6005
Dear Minister
EPA: IMPACT OF BIOMASS POWER PLANT ON ROAD SAFETY IN
MANJIMUP AND PEMBERTON
I write to draw your attention to the potential
negative impacts heavy-haulage tracks supplying a
proposed Biomass Power Plant at Diamond Mill,
Manjimup may have on road safety and to encourage
you to request the Department of Planning and
Infrastructure to make a submission to the
Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on the
Public Environmental Review for the Biomass Power
Plant. This is urgent as submissions to the EPA are
required by 26 February 2008.
380,000 tonnes of Tasmanian bluegum and pine fuel
for the Plant will be transported up to 100
kilometres to the Diamond Mill site south of
Manjimup, including from north of Bridgetown. An
additional up to 34 heavy-haulage trucks (60 tonnes
when loaded) will traverse the South West Highway
daily between 7am and 7pm, increasing the already
major presence of similar woodchip heavy-haulage
trucks since the Diamond Mill to Bunbury rail line
closed.
The major presence of these 60 tonne haulage trucks
at present is daunting for most sedan drivers, they
are forty times their size and dominate narrow
roads; the prospect of a substantial increase in
number is of great concern to our family. There has
been no overtaking zone constructed between Manjimup
and Bridgetown since the woodchip trucking began,
and the 10 kilometres of South West highway south of
Manjimup to the Diamond Mill is particularly narrow.
Windscreen damage and near misses from these huge
trucks is common.
Minister, I appreciate we all have to share the
roads, but the 380,000 tonne increase in haulage for
wood is massive compared to, for example, annual
haulage of 25,000 tonnes of potatoes and 10,000
tonnes of apples from the Manjimup and Pemberton
region. Since closure of the railway line, private
woodchip and timber transport is increasingly
dominant at the expense of the public interest, and
other industry, particularly tourism which is
important to the Manjimup and Pemberton region, and
Walpole where the iconic Tree Top Walk is located.
Surely it won’t take a fatal accident on this aspect
of the highway, involving either a local family or
visitors/tourists for this imbalance to be
rectified?
The proposed Biomass Power Plant, which will burn
380,000 tonnes of wood a year to generate 40MW of
electricity was initially proposed for a site north
of Bridgetown, but this was overwhelmingly rejected
by the community of Bridgetown. It was a shock to me
in October 2007 to learn the Shire of Manjimup were
‘thrilled’ they had succeeded in convincing the
Biomass Power Plant to relocate to Manjimup! The
Public Environmental Review is disturbingly
inadequate for assessment of the road safety and
other impacts of the increased heavy-haulage.
Please reply and assure me Minister that you will
bring the Public Environmental Review to the
attention of the Department of Planning and
Infrastructure and encourage them to make a
submission to the EPA by the 26 February 2008
deadline.
Yours sincerely
(download
and letter)
If you wish to email or
fax downloaded letter:
Email:
alannah-mactiernan@dpc.wa.gov.au ;
Fax:
92136401 |
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In State Parliament on 25 May 2005, Paul Omodei MLA,
Member for Warren Blackwood, moved “That
this house condemns the Labor government
for its failure to resolve
problems with the Lambert (being Diamond Mill)
to Bunbury railway line, which has resulted in the
closure of the line and a dangerous increase in
the number of heavy haulage trucks using the South
Western Highway”, and he said in his speech
“People dread the trip to Bunbury for medical
treatment for themselves or their loved ones. I have
now been using the road for most of my life, and on
a more regular basis over the past 20 years or so. I
am not saying that I am any rally driver or
whatever, but I consider the road to be dangerous,
even to me. We see near misses all the time.”
When referring to the death of a truck driver in a
collision with a heavy-haulage truck on the South
West Highway, Mr Omodei said in his speech "The
highway is also a school bus route. If the truck had
hit a school bus, it would have killed 20 or 30
children."
(Hansard,
Legislative Assembly, 25 May 2005).
Mr Omodei, please advise the
EPA of your concerns re heavy-haulage
on the South West Highway. |
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Minister for Agriculture and Food
The Hon Kim M Chance MLC
Minister for Agriculture and Food
11th Floor, Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
WEST PERTH WA 6005
Dear Minister
EPA: IMPACT OF BIOMASS POWER PLANT ON
AGRICULTURE IN MANJIMUP AND PEMBERTON
I write to draw your attention to the
potential negative impacts a proposed Biomass Power
Plant at Diamond Mill, Manjimup may have on my
agricultural business and to encourage you to
request the Department of Agriculture and Food to
make submission to the Environmental Protection
Authority on the Public Environmental Review
(January 2008) for the Biomass Power Plant. This is
urgent as submissions to the EPA are required by 26
February 2008.
The site proposed for the Biomass
Power Plant is approximately 10 kilometers south of
Manjimup, effectively in the centre of the Manjimup
and Pemberton ‘food bowl’ which contributes in
excess of $150 million to the regional and State
economy. Agriculture is the major primary employment
in the region, with a recent study by the Pemberton
Wine Region Association showing 600 persons employed
in viticulture and the wine industry alone.
Historically, this region has been renowned for
fruit, potato and vegetable production; viticulture,
and new truffle and green tea initiatives add to our
proud claim as the ‘food bowl’ of the South West.
This agricultural production aligns with our vital
‘clean and green’ image.
The Public Environmental Review
is disturbingly inadequate in regard to
potential impacts on my agribusiness and property
values. There is no mention of possible impacts on
agriculture and food quality certification, or of
the Horticultural Research Institute nearby and the
field trials which have a major role in the region.
The continued competitiveness of
agricultural produce from Manjimup and Pemberton is
dependent on food quality certification from Food
Standards Australia and New Zealand and similar
national and international certification
organisations. In general, the technical
requirements to achieve food quality certification
are becoming more rather than less demanding on
producers. Standards required to be achieved
increasingly turn upon ‘worlds best practice’. Shift
in air quality in the
Biomass Power Plant
notional 7km radius pollution zone
from that normally expected in a non-industrial
rural area to approximate what would be found in a
mixed urban/industrial area will increase risks
associated with both maintaining and achieving food
quality certification. Established agricultural
producers are being asked to accept these risks with
no benefit in return for them from the proposed
Biomass Power Plant. We will be
seeking compensation if our agribusiness is harmed.
This is the first biomass power plant
in WA, and there are reasonable grounds to predict
it will expand beyond 40MW at the Diamond Mill site,
fuelled from State Forest. There are many examples
in WA of where the value of agricultural production
has suffered because of inadequate consideration of
the impact of pollutants. These mistakes must not be
repeated. Please reply and assure me Minister that
you will bring the Public Environmental Review
to the attention of the Department of Agriculture
and Food and encourage them to make a submission to
the EPA by the 26 February 2008 deadline.
Yours sincerely
(download
letter)
If you wish to email or
fax downloaded letter:
Email:
kim-chance@dpc.wa.gov.au Fax:
92136701 |
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Letter to
Minister for Tourism
The Hon Sheila M McHale MLA
Minister for Tourism
12th Floor, Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
WEST PERTH WA 6005
Dear Minister
EPA: IMPACT OF BIOMASS POWER PLANT ON TOURISM IN
MANJIMUP AND PEMBERTON
I write to draw your attention to the potential
negative impacts a proposed Biomass Power Plant at
Diamond Mill, Manjimup may have on tourism and to
encourage you to request Tourism Western Australia
to make a submission to the Environmental Protection
Authority (EPA) on the Public Environmental Review
for the Biomass Power Plant. This is urgent as
submissions to the EPA are required by 26 February
2008.
The site proposed for the Biomass Power Plant is
approximately 10 kilometres south of Manjimup,
effectively in the centre of the Manjimup and
Pemberton region which attracts intrastate,
interstate and international visitors because of the
unique Karri forest, food and wine, and ‘clean and
green’ environment. In your statement of 17 December
2007, you said visitors to WA spent $5 billion in
the previous year. We believe the Karri forest
region, often featured in international advertising,
has made a substantial contribution to attracting
visitors to WA. In the same statement you referred
to visitors from Singapore and Malaysia in
particular growing; that is also our experience,
with the visitors attracted to temperate climate
holidays in the rural and forested environment of
Manjimup and Pemberton.
The proposed Biomass Power Plant, which will burn
380,000 tonnes of wood a year to generate 40MW of
electricity was initially proposed for a site north
of Bridgetown, but this was overwhelmingly rejected
by the community of Bridgetown who wanted to
maintain their ‘clean and green’ image. It was a
shock to me in October 2007 to learn the Shire of
Manjimup were ‘thrilled’ they had succeeded in
convincing the Biomass Power Plant to relocate to
Manjimup!
The Public Environmental Review is totally
inadequate in regard to potential impacts on
tourism. For example, an additional up to 34
approximately 60 tonne when loaded trucks will
traverse the South West highway daily between 7am
and 7pm, exacerbating the already major presence of
similar woodchip trucks since the Diamond Mill to
Bunbury rail line was closed. This will be a
deterrent to return visitors in particular and
increases the risk of fatal injury on the narrow
highway. One such event involving tourists from
Singapore or Malaysia, then reported in those
countries, could take Manjimup and Pemberton off
their tourism map. I am also concerned at both the
potential actual and perceived impacts of
atmospheric pollution from the Biomass Power Plant
on tourism previously attracted to a non-industrial
area. The perception of pollution alone could be
sufficient to negatively impact tourism, and the
potential for this must be evaluated in a cost
benefit scenario that recognises the value of
tourism.
This is the first biomass power generation plant in
WA, and there are reasonable grounds to predict it
will expand beyond 40MW at the Diamond Mill site,
fuelled from the Karri forest. Hypothetically, I am
sure a similar biomass power plant proposed for the
Margaret River region would cause intervention by
Tourism Western Australia; the Manjimup and
Pemberton region is no less important. Please reply
and assure me Minister that you will bring the
Public Environmental Review to the attention of
Tourism Western Australia and encourage them to make
a submission to the EPA by the 26 February 2008
deadline.
Yours sincerely
(download
and letter)
If you wish to email or
fax downloaded letter:
Email:
sheila-mchale@dpc.wa.gov.au
Fax:
92136901 |
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| Please watch this
space as more letters to relevant Ministers
become available for your family, and advise others
of
www.nobiomass.com . |
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| Please email
contact@nobiomass.com to assist this campaign
for safe roads, and a healthy, prosperous, clean and
green Manjimup and Pemberton. The Biomass Action
Group, formed on 12 January 2008, has an informal organising committee,
and new helpers are very welcome. |
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POTENTIAL EXPANSION OF BIOMASS POWER GENERATION IN MANJIMUP
AND PEMBERTON
USING KARRI, JARRAH AND MARRI
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Question On Notice No. 5603 asked in the Legislative
Council on 13 November 2007 by Hon
Paul Llewellyn
Question Directed to the: Minister for Forestry
Minister responding: Hon K.M. Chance
Question
With reference to the terms ‘forest residue’ and
‘forest waste’, I ask -
(1) What is the Forest Products Commission’s (FPC)
definition of the terms -
(a) forest residue; and
(b) forest waste?
(2) Has the FPC called for tenders for the purchase
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(a) forest residue; and
(b) forest waste?
(3) If no to (2), does the FPC plan to do so?
(4) If yes to (2) or (3), what -
(a) species do the tenders cover;
(b) what amounts of each species are involved; and
(c) what is the proposed likely end use of each
species?
Answer
Answered on 29 November 2007
(1a-b) The terms forest residue and forest waste
have similar meanings and refer to forest products
that are currently unsaleable. They can include bole
wood, branches and limbs of trees, stumps and other
residues of logging operations.
(2 a-b) No.
(3) The Forest Products Commission is in the process
of preparing a tender for the sale of native forest
residue.
(4)
(a) The species would be jarrah, marri and karri.
(b) The amounts for each species are still being
determined however residues would only be sourced
from operations and within total harvest levels
approved under the current Forest Management Plan
2004-2013.
(c) The most likely use for the residues would be as
a product for the renewable energy
markets. Furthermore, the residues would undergo a
level of local value-adding and would not be
exported to overseas markets in log form.
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