THE Community Consultation Network (CCN) meetings about the future of Anglesea\u2019s former coal mine have not been held in more than a year, but Alcoa wants to bring them back once the COVID-19 restrictions have eased.<\/p>\n
The meetings, scheduled every two months and typically held in the Anglesea Senior Citizens Centre, are an opportunity for attendees to discuss the site\u2019s decommissioning and rehabilitation activities.<\/p>\n
Alcoa established the CCN for Anglesea in 2001 and its membership includes Alcoa employees, local residents and landowners, Surf Coast Shire representatives, community groups and Victorian government departments and agencies such as the Department of Justice, Precincts and Regions\u2019 Earth Resources Regulation, EPA Victoria and others.<\/p>\n
Discussions about Alcoa\u2019s strategy to fill the mine void with water have dominated proceedings at recent meetings, as has the Eden Project Anglesea proposal – Eden Project International chief executive officer David Harland has made seven appearances at the CCN, both in person and via video link.<\/p>\n
The last in-person CCN meeting was held in February 2020, with meetings postponed since then due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the subsequent restrictions on social distancing and public gatherings of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are keen to recommence our face-to-face community engagement, however we will now defer until COVID restrictions allow,\u201d an Alcoa spokesperson said last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to regularly provide community updates about our activities to our email database (with more than 1,200 people registered), and in the Surf Coast Times<\/em> and NewsAngle.\u201d<\/p>\n Alcoa successfully submitted an application to Southern Rural Water last year to conduct a 12-month pumping test of the Upper Eastern View Aquifer \u2013 part of the plan to half-fill the void within five years \u2013 and will extract 1.5 gigalitres of water.<\/p>\n The Alcoa spokesperson said the groundwater pumping test started on May 13 and was progressing as planned.<\/p>\n \u201cAs outlined in our most recent Community Update, we are committed to keeping the community informed as the test progresses via monthly updates, with the first update available the last week of June,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The mine void being at least half-full is a key enabler for not only Eden Project Anglesea \u2013 which has \u201cwater\u201d, \u201cearth\u201d, \u201cfire\u201d and \u201cair\u201d concepts \u2013 but also Alcoa\u2019s Anglesea Mine Rehabilitation and Closure Plan.<\/p>\n According to an Alcoa factsheet about the mine filling strategy and groundwater pumping test, using water from the Upper Eastern View aquifer will allow longer-term filling options to be investigated in the meantime.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the only option that will meet the timeline outlined by Eden Project International for the water body to be filled to at least 50 per cent by about 2024 and will allow the project concept to progress with further design, planning and infrastructure studies,\u201d the factsheet states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE Community Consultation Network (CCN) meetings about the future of Anglesea\u2019s former coal mine have not been held in more than a year, but Alcoa wants to bring them back once the COVID-19 restrictions have eased. The meetings, scheduled every two months and typically held in the Anglesea Senior Citizens Centre, are an opportunity for […]<\/p>\n