Newcastle Herald, 19th June 2002 - Scott Tucker

 

Court backs woodland

"Kurri Kurri's aluminium smelter has lost a legal bid to derail a NSW Scientific Committee environmental declaration that threatens its expansion plans.

Smelter owner/operator VAW took the Committee to the Land and Environment Court, claiming it had made an invalid determination under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.

VAW which was taken over by Norwegian company Norsk Hydro ASA, has applied to improve its Loxford operation in three stages.

The stages include structural floor repairs, installing a Greenmix scrubber for air emissions, building a new annode baking furnace and up-grading its three potlines.

But the committee, an independant body comprising ten members appointed by Environment minister Bob Debus, is challenging VAW.

VAW took the committee to court, saying attempts to declare an area of Kurri Kurri bushland as an endangered ecological community would stifle its operations.

The committee comprises scientists from the Australian Museum, Entomological Society of Australia, NSW Agriculture, Royal Botanic Gardens, CSIRO, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Land and Water Conservation, University of NSW and Ecological Society of Australia.

Its functions include deciding the species, populations and ecological communities to be listed as endangered, vulnerable or extinct and determining key threats.

The committee listed the "Kurri Sand Swamp Woodland" as significant on account of its "rare" combinations of woodland and scrub.

VAW challenged the committee's finding and claimed it had been denied procedural fairness by the committee's not supplying information.

Bur Justice Dennis Cowdroy has dismissed the challenge.

Kurri smelter manager Trevor Coombs suggested a legal appeal was likely.

"We are reviewing the whole exercise" he said.

Scientific Committee deputy chairman, Tom Adam said the declaration would require the National Parks and Wildlife Service to produce a "recovery plan" for the Kurri Woodland.

That would require Cessnock City Council to consider tougher environmental guidelines when considering developments in the area".