News – full story

THE Australian government has granted final environmental approval for a pulp mill on the shores of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania, but that doesn’t mean the project will go ahead.

The project was initially granted environmental approval by the former coalition government in October 2007, subject to the proponent, forestry and agricultural conglomerate Gunns, providing an environmental-impact management plan.

The Environment Minister in the current Labor government, Tony Burke, has now approved the plan. This commits the mill to using only plantation timber as feedstock and implementing an elemental chlorine free (ECF) ’light’ bleaching technology, which is estimated to lower chlorine dioxide use by 40% compared with the originally proposed ECF method.

“Gunns has heard community concerns around the mill project since its original approval in 2007, and has attempted to address these concerns,” Gunns managing director, Greg L’Estrange, said after Burke announced his decision.

At its proposed site in the Bell Bay precinct, the mill will comprise a gas-fired power station, an aluminium smelter and several wood-chip mills as neighbours, but opposition from local residents and environmental groups remains strong.

Christine Milne, one of Tasmania’s two Greens senators, said that the mill has “no social licence.”

“Everyone knows that the approval process for this mill was totally corrupt and, instead of legitimising it, the federal government should have demanded that the proponent resubmit its final proposal to a proper assessment process,” she said.

L’Estrange said that the approval was a critical step in attracting financial backing of more than A$2b ($1.97) for construction of the mill, which has a planned annual-production capacity of 820,000 air-dried tonnes of pulp.

However, any prospective investors in the project will be aware that they will be targeted by a sophisticated opposition campaign, which has previously blackballed banks with links to Gunns.

“Potential joint-venture partners need to be aware that the community is determined never to see this mill built in the Tamar Valley,” Milne said.