BY Ann Marie Angebrandt
A CONFIDENTIAL agreement reached last week between the Newport power station operator, Ecogen, and the Port of Melbourne Corporation has removed one of the biggest obstacles to channel-deepening plans.
The agreement will allow the corporation to dredge in the Yarra River adjacent to the 500-megawatt station when it closes for a four-week maintenance shutdown next September.
Previously, the corporation had agreed not to dredge in the Yarra or Hobsons Bay during the spring to avoid potentially harming migrating Australian grayling and Australian mudfish, both considered “vulnerable” species.
A spokesman for the corporation confirmed a commercial-in-confidence agreement had been reached after more than a year of deliberations, but the fish “were not mentioned”.
He said the agreement was subject to the approval of both companies’ boards.
The deal was struck during a panel hearing last week on the supplementary environmental effects of the $763 million project.
The power station pumps 17,500 litres of water a second from the Yarra to cool its turbines, then returns it at the “Warmies” fishing spot in Hobsons Bay.
Neither Ecogen’s general manager, nor its lawyers, Martin and McLean, could be reached for comment.
The panel is expected to report its findings on the project in October.
The corporation can go ahead with government plans to widen Port Phillip’s narrow heads and deepen its shipping channels once all relevant environmental approvals are obtained.
In a 2005 submission to the first environmental effects panel hearing, Ecogen lawyers said the company should be compensated for any losses incurred if it had to shut down during the dredging, or to fix equipment corroded by any contaminated sediment.
It said it was also concerned about negative public perception if the dredging caused the estimated 300 recreational fishermen who use the Warmies to stop fishing, or worse, caused contamination to the area’s fish.
