Project:
Development Plan for Orbost Gas Plant Upgrade
Meeting:
Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting #3
Date/Time:
Wednesday 23rd March 2016, 10:00am
Location:
Marlo CFA
Present:
Committee:
Cr. Mark Reeves
East Gippsland Shire Council
(Meeting chair)
Garry Squires
Orbost Chamber of Commerce and
Industry
Russell Bates
Marlo Community and Marlo Hotel
Darren Robertson
Captain Newmerella Country Fire Authority
Theo Mekken
Neighbour and landowner along pipeline
easement
Peter Van den Oever Orbost Regional Health
Travis Price
Orbost Clubs
Bronwyn Ridgway
Santos EHS Adviser
Visitors:
Liz Sully
Santos
Simon Griffiths
Santos
Liz Hurst
Jacobs
Minute taker:
Lauren Bradshaw
Jacobs
Apologies:
Distribution:
Stephen Mather
Newmerella Primary School
Terry Gladstone
Orbost Schools
Shaun Noble
Santos
CAC members
Santos
East Gippsland Shire Council
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Minutes
Item
Discussion
1
Cr Mark Reeves opened the meeting and acknowledged the Traditional
Owners of the Land. He then welcomed all committee members to the
meeting and each person again introduced themselves.
All members accepted the minutes from the last meeting with one
alteration – Russell Bates was not present and should be removed from
the attendees list and added to the apologies section.
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Presentation
Santos presented an update on the project to follow up since the last
meeting including:
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Changes since the last meeting
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EPA Works Approval Application update
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Other approvals processes
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Next steps
Changes since last meeting:
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There have been minor changes within the plant but no significant
changes to the plant layout.
Hard copies of the Development Plan were made available to all
committee members to read prior to the CAC meeting.
The Development Plan will be completed and submitted within the
next few weeks. Information on the contents of the Environmental
Management Plan is to be added to the Development Plan.
CAC minutes from all meetings will be included in the
Development Plan. The minutes from today will be put together
and accepted before the Development Plan is issued.
There are still comments from some referral agencies that are
outstanding and being followed up so that they can be included in
the Development Plan. So far there has been a positive response
from referral agencies and no major issues have been
highlighted.
EPA Works Approval Application
•
The EPA Works Approval Application (WAA) was submitted to the
EPA on the 7th March 2016, accepted by the EPA on the 11th
March 2016 and was published on the 16th March 2016. The
document is currently on exhibition for 21 days (starting 16th
March).
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A copy of the WAA was tabled.
This is a very lengthy document which covers particular issues
such as community engagement, noise, air, water and waste. It
details how each of these components are assessed and how
Santos will comply with the EPA requirements.
EPA Public Meeting Overview
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Two joint public information sessions were held the day before
(Tuesday 22nd March) with Santos, the EPA and the EGCMA.
These were focussed on the Works Approval Application.
Members of the public had an opportunity to discuss any issues
or questions in relation to the document.
The EPA presented information on the Works Approval process
and Santos presented information on the details in the document
and a question and answer session was included at the end.
An important question was raised by a community member about
the decline of the seagrass population on the Snowy River and
whether there has been any research into the cause of this. The
East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority who were
present at the meeting indicated that they are aware of the issue
and that they are committing funding for research to determine
the cause of it. The community was informed about how to apply
to Santos for community investment program funding.
An email had been sent to Santos with questions in relation to the
project and which they requested be shared with the CAC. The
email was read out and the questions within the email were
discussed. The questions included:
o How much of sulphur slurry will be produced by the Orbost
Gas Plant?
o How will this be transported?
o Where will the sulphur slurry be stored?
o What are the proposed markets for recycling or reusing
the bio-sulphur?
o What are the contingencies in place if there is no market
for the bio-sulphur?
o What figures have Santos produced in relation to jobs
available at the plant for the local community?
Other key approvals
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DEDJTR – Pipelines Act and Native Title
o Pipeline Licence application will be submitted soon
o This will be advertised in the local paper and in the Herald
Sun
o Although the pipeline is entirely underground, Santos still
needs to go through this process
o Other approvals will be needed for the offshore pipeline
but Santos will go through this process at a later stage
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•
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DELWP – Various approvals related to public lands and the
environment
EGCMA – Flood levels
o This is already approved and there will be no change as
no works are proposed below the 1 in 100 year flood level
Further information about the Works Approval Application
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Air emissions
o The WAA outlines how each air emission is identified
o Main new sources are the sulphur recovery unit and the
new power generation system
o Site air emissions have been estimated and modelled
using AERMOD (EPA air emission modelling software)
o Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide and
mercaptans will be emitted to the atmosphere
o There is a requirement for the project to comply with the
State Environment Protection Policies (SEPPs)
Noise
o Each noise source was identified for both the construction
and operation phases of the project
o Noise modelling begins with a base case and then
additional aspects are added such as topography and
attenuation until it meets EPA requirements
o Modelling has shown that there will be no change in noise
levels to the closest residents
Water
o There has been no change in relation to the management
of water at the site
o Drainage systems will be extended due to the increase in
plant surface area
o There are two ponds at the site which store water before it
is discharged to the East Gippsland Water Waste Water
Treatment Plant
Land and groundwater
o There will be no threat to land and groundwater systems
from the proposed upgrades
o There are groundwater monitoring bores around the site
that enable testing of the water
o Testing to date has shown that there has been no
contamination to groundwater
Greenhouse gas emissions
o The plant makes up 0.09% of Victoria’s greenhouse gas
emissions per year
o There will be a small increase in emissions for this project
Waste
o There are a range of wastes being produced as a result of
the project and these are detailed in the WAA
o Construction wastes include scrap metal and power
cables
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o
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Next steps and the ongoing role of the CAC
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Operational wastes include sulphur, salt and mercury
filters
The major waste streams are the sulphur and salt wastes
which amount to 13.2 tonnes/day and 2.3 tonnes/day
respectively.
The Development Plan will be finalised and submitted in the next
few weeks. The EGSC will be asked to approve this to their
satisfaction.
Other approvals will be finalised
The decision on whether the project will go ahead or not will occur
at the end of the year
The ongoing role of the CAC was discussed and each committee
member was asked if they would like to continue to be a part of
the CAC and how they think the meetings should proceed into the
future. It was agreed that the CAC should continue to run and that
meetings approximately every quarter would be suitable unless
there are any changes and a meeting needs to be scheduled
sooner. The current members wished to remain involved.
Development Plan related questions raised by the CAC
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Has the Environmental Management Plan been added to the
Development Plan?
The outline of the EMP is being added. This will be different from
the existing environmental management plan for the site and
more focussed on construction and the new operations. The EMP
is required for council approval and will include the traffic
management plan for construction and the flood management
plan. SUZ4 contains a list of what needs to be included in the
EMP.
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Other (non-Development Plan related) questions raised by the CAC
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What is the process for removing the pipeline when the plant is no
longer operational?
Pipelines are often not removed as this would impact a lot of
ecosystems. The requirements are managed by the Department
of Economic Development, Jobs, Training and Resources and a
decommissioning plan is not required by the Council as part of
the Development Plan.
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Where is the landfill that wastes would be sent to?
The wastes produced will be classified by the EPA before Santos
can establish where they will be sent. Wastes get sent to licenced
facilities such as Dutson Downs or Lyndhurst. In respect to the
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biosulphur, Santos’ preference is for it to be beneficially reused
and not sent to landfill.
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Communication of information to the community
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The committee was asked how they are disseminating
information to the community and whether or not it has been
effective.
CAC members described the different ways in which they
communicate with other members of the community about the
project and they felt that the community was well informed.
The suggestion was again put forward that Santos should be
more public about its contributions to the community.
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Meeting closed
Meeting closed at 11:00am.
This was the final meeting of the CAC in relation to the preparation of the
Development Plan for the Orbost Gas Plant site.
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