Posted on August 28, 2017
By Chris Calcino, Cairns Post
CAIRNS Regional Council’s call for the State Government to take responsibility for the dumping of Trinity Inlet dredge spoils has received backing from the Local Government Association of Queensland.
Groups across the Far North are finalising their recommendations ahead of the closure of submissions to the project’s environmental impact statement at 5pm today.
The council will back the project but calls for its status as “assessment manager” for onshore dumping to be handed over to state authorities.
LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam supported Mayor Bob Manning’s argument.
“This is a major project that involves state interests. The council has made an honest appraisal of its capability in this specialist field,” he said.
“Good on them.”
Cairns Port Development group secretary Emma Thirkell said the council was right to declare risk in an effort to streamline approval processes.
“Our submission will say that this is stage 1 of a larger project,” she said.
“The project has been downscaled and we are still asking why.”
Cairns and Far North Environment Centre director Roz Walden said ecological hazards were inherent in the proposal and responsibilities must be clearly delegated. “We need the appropriate people overseeing a project of this scale and complexity,” she said.
CAFNEC’s submission will raise concerns about the 9.7km pipeline delivering dredge spoils to the Northern Sands quarry and what happens once the slurry pits have been formed – especially the risk of acid sulfate leaking into groundwater. “When it’s dumped there it will be below the water table. We haven’t been able to find an example of where this has happened anywhere else in the world,” Ms Walden said.
CAFNEC will also argue the government has overstated the number of jobs the project would create.
“I’m concerned they could be misleading the community to believe that job creation benefits are going to be more than they actually will be,” she said.
Ms Walden urged residents to make their thoughts known.
“This document is large and overwhelming … but you don’t need expertise to make a submission,” she said.
Source: Cairns Post
