Pulp Mill still fails the grade

Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke, gave the Gunns’ Tamar Valley pulp mill the final environmental approvals on March 10 after delaying the decision for one week. Despite some very real improvements to the original proposal, the pulp mill still fails the grade on many of our issues.

Protecting our native forests = protecting our climate. Old-growth forest, Upper Florentine Valley, Tasmania. Photo by: Rob Blakers

The decision was delayed due to the Minister having to consider alterations to the project. These alterations include the legal requirement that the mill only use plantation timber. This is a welcome development considering the original proposal was heavily based on native forests, for the life of the project. Legally locking in 100 percent plantation supply is a good outcome from a long campaign on this issue.

However, the campaign has focused on a range of other issues that remain unresolved, including the location of the mill and the way the original proposal was fast-tracked through a state approval process without taking into account the views of the public or properly assessing many issues.

Therefore, the Wilderness Society still opposes the construction of the pulp mill and will continue to campaign against the project.

“It is the responsibility of the two Governments to deliver a legitimate, independent, and transparent process, with public participation, to assess the impacts of any major development, including the Tamar Valley Mill,” said Lyndon Schneiders, the Wilderness Society’s National Campaign Director in a media release in response to Minister Burke’s decision.

Another outstanding issue clouding the approval of the Tamar Valley mill is the impact of releasing toxins from the pulp mill into the local marine environment. We are still scrutinising the detailed technical reports that were released yesterday to determine the impacts on the marine environment but we remain deeply concerned that this project will harm the marine environment.

Over the next few weeks, our campaigners will be mapping out the next phase of the campaign.
Tony Burke’s announcement on March 10 doesn’t change the basic fact that the proposed mill doesn’t have broad community support within the Tamar Valley or Tasmania, and therefore the mill should not be constructed.