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The pit is estimated to be at more than 15 per cent of its proposed full volume, but prospective future tenants the Eden Project have set a prerequisite of having the void half-filled by 2024 if they are to take over the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have confidence in the test results that indicate it (the pumping trial) has not adversely impacted the local environment,\u201d Eden Project International chief executive officer David Harland said.<\/p>\n
Southern Rural Water (SRW) approved a variation of Alcoa\u2019s mining licence in 2020 to facilitate the trial, and will again be the regulator when the company seeks a more permanent water licence that will be required to meet the goal of half-filling the mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no evidence that historic groundwater extraction from Alcoa has caused environmental problems in the Anglesea River and the estuary,\u201d an SRW spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Environment Victoria (EV) has queried why Alcoa was not being held to similar rehabilitation processes as other former coal mines and
\npower stations in the state.<\/p>\n
The state government announced last month that the former Hazelwood power station and associated coal mine must undergo an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) in order to demonstrate its plan to turn the former pit into a lake did not pose an unacceptable environmental risk to water resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think all large mine rehabilitation should go through an EES,\u201d EV\u2019s acting campaigns manager Greg Foyster said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, this is not always the case and the Hazelwood EES was only granted after significant campaigning from locals in the Latrobe Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Victorian government said it \u201cwill support the best possible rehabilitation outcome for the former power station and coal mine to benefit Anglesea and the broader community and consider all relevant factors including environmental impacts\u201d.<\/p>\n
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ALCOA\u2019S decades of pumping groundwater has negatively affected water quality in the Anglesea River and estuary, according to a new report from a team of University of Melbourne scientists. The discussion paper led by Professor Ralf Haese of the university\u2019s School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences presents data explaining the now-permanent acidic state of […]<\/p>\n