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The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released for 70 kilometres of high voltage powerlines and pylons proposed for Woolooga to Eerwah Vale has come under fire from environmental experts.

Five specialists have spoken out against the impact assessment, including environmental scientist and director of ATP Environmental Adam Presnell, in a submission by the Powerlines Action Group of Eumundi (PAGE).

“I believe [the EIS] fails in every one of its specified tasks and should be withdrawn. The draft EIS needs to be redrafted and properly prepared so that it satisfies – at the very least – the legal, ethical and professional responsibilities of those who produced it” said Mr Presnell.

“One of its absurdities is the complete omission of any information relating to the impacts – vegetation clearing, track damage, noise and visual pollution – of off-easement access needed to get to the powerlines and pylons.”

Community members had up to Friday 15 May to submit a response to the 1,900-page draft EIS released for Powerlink’s proposed 275kV Woolooga to Cooroy South (Eerwah Vale) Transmission Line and Substation Project, prepared by paid consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) Australia.

PAGE coordinator Graham Smith said the volunteer residents group had submitted a 180-page response, which included expert commentary highlighting fundamental flaws in the assessment and the assessment process. A summary of PAGE’s submission is included for further information.

“In sum, the draft EIS can be characterised as misleading, incorrect, inadequate and lacking in critical details,” said Mr Smith, senior project manager, chartered accountant and PAGE coordinator.

“It clearly lacks any independence in its analysis, conclusions or recommendations. Unfortunately, this is consistent with the woeful consultation and poorly detailed studies undertaken by Powerlink and their paid consultants.”

Dr Don Sands – a world-renowned and well-respected expert on the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly – has also been critical of the assessment.

In response to a recommendation to relocate the vulnerable butterfly’s only food plant – the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine – away from the path of the high voltage powerlines, Dr Sands said ‘“the removal, as suggested in the draft EIS, will destroy the vines which will lead to the destruction of the colony”.

“I’m surprised that Powerlink is not more amenable to expert advice when it relates to environmental management,” he said.

Glenda Pickersgill, environmental consultant and president of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, has also voiced her concerns, saying “the draft EIS acknowledges the project will cause loss of habitat for threatened and migratory species, and will fragment populations of threatened species, yet it does not adequately assess the risks of their extinction.

“This is similar to our findings for the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam and Northern Pipeline Interconnector Stage Two.”

“It is to be hoped that the Queensland Coordinator-General and the Federal Government will provide a thorough, independent and realistic assessment in light of this flawed EIS, and will listen to the community’s alternatives instead of destroying more of our environment for infrastructure.”

Ethicist and strategic corporate, governance and sustainability advisor Dr John Cronin, who is also a member of PAGE, branded the document as “disgracefully misleading” and “designed to steamroll this unsustainable and destructive project through despite community and council opposition”.

“The impact assessment is full of inconsistencies, omissions, misleading and incorrect information,” Dr Cronin said.

“This project cannot be recommended with integrity, based on the inappropriate EIS process deployed, including poor community consultation and engagement practices. The process for Ministerial designation regarding this project is therefore flawed to a potentially devastating extent.”

PAGE, also known as People Advocating Green Energy, is a not-for-profit community organisation committed to promoting sustainable ways to meet the Sunshine Coast’s future energy needs, and to working constructively with the Queensland Government and its agencies to do so.

The group led the development of a viable non-network alternative, which includes significant ‘bankable’ demand management initiatives and scalable, local renewable solar-thermal generation with storage capacity, plus real employment opportunities for locals through the creation of green jobs.

PB announced that community members had until 29 May to submit supplementary or supporting information, provided that they submitted a response noting the kind of information to be supplied later by the original date (15 May).

To read PAGE’s submission or to learn more about proposed alternatives and the campaign to date, visit PAGE’s website at www.saveeumundi.org or email contact@saveeumundi.org

The detailed response can be downloaded by visiting PAGE’s website here: http://www.saveeumundi.org/2009/05/page-submission-to-draft-eis-documents/

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