The National Bank espouses their environmental credentials in relation to investment decisions for the money we place in their care. Yet now they are allowing the desalination plant to go ahead, preventing better and cheaper options from an environmental point of view, from going ahead, by backing the desalination plant’s construction.

Write a letter of objection:

Download, print and post a letter addressed to their Board of Directors here, or
download a letter to their Corporate Responsibility Department here, or
download an alternative letter to their Corporate Responsibility Department here, or
Cut and paste bits or all of these, or use the dot points below to create your own letter, and send it to  NAB via their contact webpage here, or you can ring,
ask for their ‘Corporate Responsibility officer’,  1300 889398.

• shortcomings of environmental assessment study
• the consortium aren’t committing to proper monitoring of marine effects
• so much water we won’t build the sustainable alternatives
• financial risk to bank
• bad investment
• what could go wrong (soils, substructure of area-mines etc, size of project, water temperature, more ?
• NAB’s reputation as environmenatlly responsible may be lost
• backlash
• env and social impacts -traffic, housing, green tourism
• long-term damage to bank’s reputation
  

____________________________

Here is a flyer that we are handing out at NAB branches - Click here

_______________________________________

To the Board of Directors,
National Australia Bank Head Office,
800 Bourke St,
Docklands 3008

NAB’s Investment in the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant:

On the 31^st July, Aquasure, a consortium made up of Suez Environment (affiliated to Degremont), Theiss and Maquarie Capital announced that it would be building the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

Aquasure and the State of Victoria secured a financing package, ‘lead by NAB and Westpac’, and supported by banks from Belgium, China, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK.

NAB’s decision to finance the project is contrary to your stated principles of responsibility toward the environment and your adoption of the “Equator Principles” in October 2007. NAB could not legitimately claim that this project met even the most basic of environment requirements, due to the following :

1. Lack of credible environmental assessment of the site before works began. The shortest Environmental Effects Study (EES) on record took place - inadequate and insufficient for such a complex public infrastructure project, planned to be the largest desalination plant in Australia.
2. The long term effects of the construction and operation of the desalination plant have not been properly assessed. Comprehensive baseline data collected over 2 - 3 years is required prior to construction / operation in order to develop an optimal monitoring plan. In addition, no completed Cultural Heritage Management Plan, required for a comprehensive assessment and planning, was completed.
3. Location adjacent to Bunurong Marine Park, in a migration paths and activity zone for whales. The marine investigations in the EES were inadequate and deficient in their examination of the impact of the discharge from the desalination plant on marine life. There are significant gaps in the existing reports regarding failure to highlight known important EPBC listed species (e.g. three native orchids, Dwarf / Antarctic Minke Whales) and the frequency of presence of species, particularly migratory marine mammals.
4. Marine effects:
   • Mixing: There has been no analysis of the social, environmental or economic cost in the event that the coastal upwelling shifts the brine pools along the Victorian coast. The outlet pipeline needs to be at least 2 km off shore (the current Aquasure plan shows pipe only 1.1km in length). An outlet on a true sandy bottom is “world’s best practice” and is essential to minimise negative impacts of brine and other chemical accumulation. The planned outlet is on moderate relief reef, rich in marine life.
   • Intake : The cumulative impacts of the entrainment of eggs, plankton, fish, larval life stages and other small marine invertebrates in the intake of seawater.  Studies are required into the effect of entrainment of eggs and larvae of marine fauna.
   • Outlet : The cumulative impacts of the discharge of ecotoxins, and the potential for pooling of ecotoxins on the marine environment and human health.  The effect that the long term accumulation of organic detritus (typically includes the bodies of dead organisms or fragments of organisms) will have upon the marine environment was not assessed.
   • Other areas of concern : Impact on coastal habitats, including the Powlett River, other coastal estuaries, rivers, inlets and bays; impact of construction and the operation of the desalination plant on endangered birds, such as the Hooded Plover that breeds within close proximity of the subject site; impact of the construction and the operation of the desalination plant (particularly noise emissions) on protected marine species including: Blue, Southern Right and Humpback whales; Dolphins; Little Penguins; Seals and sea lions; Leatherback Turtles; Sharks, specifically the Great White Shark.

5. French infrastructure company GDF Suez, whose subsidiary Suez Environnement is a lead member of the Aquasure consortium, has a track record of breaches of performance requirements, after illegally logging Amazon rainforest during the construction of the $5.6 billion hydro-electric dam in Brazil. It was fined $305,000 in February for clearing 19 hectares of rainforest, some of which was protected by a permanent reserve. The project has been fiercely opposed by environmentalists, who say it will flood 520 square kilometres of rainforest, triggering tonnes of greenhouse gases from rotting vegetation, as well as impeding fish migration. According to Spanish news agency EFE, the company also used dynamite to kill 11 tons of fish in local rivers.
6. Carbon emissions associated with huge energy use: With only one larger desalination plant operating anywhere in the world, the scale of desalination proposed would prevent as many as 900,000 tonnes of existing emissions being avoided every year. The surplus energy from wind and hydro projects, that would still be available if cheaper water supply options had been chosen, will not be available to actually reduce existing emissions.

There has been little, if any, critical analysis of the desalination project promoting and complying with the principles of ecological sustainable development, which includes the precautionary principle.

NAB have signed on to a set of corporate environmental principles to guide their investment strategies. I find it difficult to see how they can be reconciled with investing in the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

I appreciate that NAB would be undertaking due diligence on this proposed investment and that it may find this investment not consistent with its stated corporate responsibilities and obligations toward the environment.

I urge the bank to investigate the many threats to the environment caused by the construction and operation of the desalination plant in Wonthaggi.

Yours faithfully,

…………………………………………………………………

Address ……………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………Postcode……………………

Do you Bank with Westpac ?

Or if you bank with - click here

Or even if you don’t bank with either, read on and see what they are doing:

Westpac Bank espouses their environmental credentials in relation to investment decisions for the money we place in their care. Yet now they are allowing the desalination plant to go ahead, preventing better and cheaper options from an environmental point of view, from going ahead, by backing the desalination plant’s construction.

Write a letter of objection:

Download, print and post a letter addressed to their Board of Directors here, or
download a letter to their Corporate Responsibility Department here, or
download an alternative letter to their Corporate Responsibility Department here, or
Cut and paste bits or the whole of these letters, or use your own ideas and the points below, into an email to corporateresponsibility@westpac.com.au, or you can ring,
ask for their ‘Corporate Responsibility officer’, Westpac - 132032 or (02) 82530769, National - 1300 889398.

• shortcomings of environmental assessment study
• the consortium aren’t committing to proper monitoring of marine effects
• so much water we won’t build the sustainable alternatives
• financial risk to bank
• bad investment
• what could go wrong (soils, substructure of area-mines etc, size of project, water temperature, more ?
• NAB’s reputation as environmenatlly responsible may be lost
• backlash
• env and social impacts -traffic, housing, green tourism
• long-term damage to bank’s reputation
  

_______________________________________

The Board of Directors
Westpac Bank Head Office
275 Kent St,
Sydney, NSW 2000

Westpac’s Investment in the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant:

On the 31st July, Aquasure, a consortium made up of Suez Environment (affiliated to Degremont), Theiss and Maquarie Capital announced that it would be building the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

Aquasure and the State of Victoria secured a financing package lead by Westpac and NAB, and supported by banks from Belgium, China, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK.
Westpac’s decision to finance the project is contrary to Westpac’s stated principles of responsibility toward the environment. Westpac could not legitimately claim that this project met even the most basic of environment requirements, due to the following:

1. Lack of credible environmental assessment of the site before works began. The shortest Environmental Effects Study (EES) on record took place - inadequate and insufficient for such a complex public infrastructure project, planned to be the largest desalination plant in Australia.
2. The long term effects of the construction and operation of the desalination plant have not been properly assessed. Comprehensive baseline data collected over 2 - 3 years is required prior to construction / operation in order to develop an optimal monitoring plan. In addition, no completed Cultural Heritage Management Plan required for a comprehensive assessment and planning, was completed.
3. Location adjacent to Bunurong Marine Park, in a migration path and activity zone for whales. The marine investigations in the EES were inadequate and deficient in their examination of the impact of the discharge from the desalination plant on marine life. There are significant gaps in the existing reports regarding failure to highlight known important EPBC listed species (e.g. three native orchids, Dwarf / Antarctic Minke Whales) and the frequency of presence of species, particularly migratory marine mammals.
4. Marine effects:
   • Mixing: There has been no analysis of the social, environmental or economic cost in the event that coastal upwelling shifts the brine pools along the Victorian coast. The outlet pipeline needs to be at least 2 km off shore (the current Aquasure plan shows pipe only 1.1km in length). An outlet on a true sandy bottom is “world’s best practice” and is essential to minimise negative impacts of brine and other chemical accumulation. The planned outlet is on moderate relief reef, rich in marine life.
   • Intake: The cumulative impacts of the entrainment of eggs, plankton, fish, larval life stages and other small marine invertebrates in the intake of seawater. Studies are required into the effect of entrainment of eggs and larvae of marine fauna.
   • Outlet - The cumulative impacts of the discharge of ecotoxins, and the potential for pooling of ecotoxins on the marine environment and human health. The effect that the long-term accumulation of organic detritus (typically includes the bodies of dead organisms or fragments of organisms) will have upon the marine environment was not assessed.
   • Other areas of concern: impact on coastal habitats, including the Powlett River, other coastal estuaries, rivers, inlets and bays; impact of construction and the operation of the desalination plant on endangered birds, such as the Hooded Plover that breeds within close proximity of the subject site; impact of the construction and the operation of the desalination plant (particularly noise emissions) on protected marine species including: Blue, Southern Right and Humpback whales; Dolphins; Little Penguins; Seals and sea lions; Leatherback Turtles; Sharks, specifically the Great White Shark.
5. French infrastructure company GDF Suez, whose subsidiary Suez Environment is a lead member of the Aquasure consortium, has a track record of breaches of performance requirements, after illegally logging Amazon rainforest during the construction of the $5.6 billion hydro-electric dam in Brazil. It was fined $305,000 in February for clearing 19 hectares of rainforest, some of which was protected by a permanent reserve. The project has been fiercely opposed by environmentalists, who say it will flood 520 square kilometres of rainforest, triggering tonnes of greenhouse gases from rotting vegetation, as well as impeding fish migration. According to Spanish news agency EFE, the company also used dynamite to kill 11 tons of fish in local rivers.
6. Carbon emissions associated with huge energy use:With only one larger desalination plant operating anywhere in the world, the scale of desalination proposed would prevent as many as 900,000 tonnes of existing emissions being avoided every year. The surplus energy from wind and hydro projects, that would still be available if cheaper water supply options had been chosen, will not be available to reduce existing emissions by 900,000 tonnes per year.

There has been little, if any, critical analysis of the desalination project promoting and complying with the principles of ecological sustainable development, which includes the precautionary principle.

Westpac claim to have a set of corporate environmental principles, promoted in television advertisements, to guide their investment strategies. I find it difficult to see how they can be reconciled with investing in the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

I appreciate that Westpac would be undertaking due diligence on this proposed investment and that it may find this investment not consistent with its stated corporate responsibilities and obligations toward the environment.

I urge the bank to investigate the many threats to the environment caused by the construction and operation of the desalination plant in Wonthaggi. To quote your own slogan “It’s about doing the right thing”

Yours faithfully …………………………………………………………………………

Address…………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………..………………………………………………………………

Postcode………………….

Click here to see BANK-Track’s assessment of Westpac

Click here to see what the “Equator Principles” that Westpac have signed up to say

Click here to see a flyer that we are handing out at Westpac branches

Click here to see Westpac’s statements on Water and Climate Change

HELP US  -  ONGOING ACTIVE MONITORING OF DESAL SITE:

As our campaign is strongly motivated by our love for the Bass Coast, we plan to actively pursue compliance with the Environmental Effects Study (EES) as well as acting on the social and traffic impacts of the project on our community.

In the next few weeks we will summarise the key EES recommendations to make it clear what may be breaches and to which authorities breaches can be reported. A program will be worked around this.

At the brainstorm on the 15^th August, 3 action areas were identified:

·         Monitoring wildlife, especially bird life.

We plan to get an idea of pre -existing conditions of a few key indicators such as the endangered Hooded Plover, which is known to visit Williamsons Beach and attempt to breed along the coast. Other species will also be important. Whales continue to migrate along the coast – there have been over 30 documented sightings in the last month. Salinity measurements will be important  near the outlet, though that will depend on our resources. Noise measurement will be needed. Vibration and light glare will also affect the environment.

·         Breaches of performance requirements.

During the pilot plant construction, numerous breaches of the Environmental Management Plan were identified, such as dumping of asbestos in Campbell St, waste dumping in Skip Lane and delivery of materials using trucks which were not compliant. We are not too hopeful of a better result now that the Aquasure consortium are in charge– the need for haste, disturbance of acid sulphate soils and waste silt flowing into the Powlett River some of the many conditions likely to cause problems. We have already had contradictory statements about at what hours per day the construction will take place.

·         Social  Impacts.

Traffic and housing problems are already affecting coastal residents. We need to identify which authorities are in charge of traffic planning and compliance. A list of people whose tenancies are threatened and  those who are experiencing problems with housing is being compiled, but follow-up is needed. Many families are not keen to make a fuss, in case they risk their chances of finding secure housing.

If you are keen to help with a bird count and keeping an eye on the project, please get in touch with Chris Heislers 0419556381 or Jessica Harrison 0407307231

Saturday 15th August

Watershed will have a brainstorming, food, music and film evening at Kilcunda Hall, 5.00pm to 10.00pm. Mark it on your calendar!

5  -  6 pm       BRAINSTORM - NEW DIRECTIONS FOR OUR CAMPAIGN

6  -  7.30 pm  FOOD AND CHAT (please bring a plate to share)

7.30 – 8 pm   RECENT FILMS FROM THE CAMPAIGN

8  – 10 pm     MUSIC WITH :

·      Jane and Ian Chambers and friends

·      Area 18

·      John Coldabella

WHERE ?  KILCUNDA HALL

WHEN ?   SATURDAY 15^TH AUGUST

COST ?    GOLD COIN DONATION

More details contact Watershed Victoria

Stephen 0407811778 or Jessica 0407 307231

A lone kayaker, Steve Posselt, has galvanized irate farmers to join Friends of the Earth, Plug the Pipe and other groups fighting for better water policy.

He started a paddle from Echuca on 1st August, and will arrive in Melbourne by kayak on Sunday 16th August.

Some of us will join with others to welcome him when he arrives by kayak in Melbourne on 16th August. Steve will arrive by kayak at Federation Square at 1.00pm, where he will drag his kayak out of the water and be greeted and cheered by supporters standing on the bank of the Yarra.

“Please have a heart Melbourne,” Posselt said before embarking on the trip. “Don’t let the Government steal this precious water. The river needs it. We have alternatives - the river does not”.

Follow Steve’s journey by clicking on the link here.

1000 to 1200 people attended this rally on September 12th and 13th

Location: Hazelwood

Power Station
Street: Brodribb Road
City/Town: Hazelwood  Victoria

Take action for renewable energy.!

Join what will hopefully be the BIGGEST protest of its kind- EVER!!!

Hazelwood is one of the dirtiest coal stations in the industrialised world, spewing an average of 17 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.

Hazelwood was scheduled to be shut down this year, however it was given a life-line by the ALP state government in 2005 allowing it to continue operation until 2031. We need to remove that lifeline and instead support renewable energy, extending the life line to our planet.

On Sunday September 13, 2009, thousands of people from across Victoria, and Australia, will converge on Hazelwood for a day of peaceful community mass civil disobedience to Switch off Hazelwood and Switch off Coal – we will be taking direct action for renewable energy.

Camping and entertainment Saturday.

Past event - Monday 7th September

We gave out over 1000 flyers at various bank branches on the day. Basically we want the banks to meet with us to hear the real story of what they are investing in. You can see the flyers we used here for Westpac, and here for NAB. Feel free to print if you wish and distribute. Cheers, WV.

Neither Westpac or NAB, who are apparently involved in trying to find funding for the desalination plant to be built, will tell us what there involvement is. Hence we will be asking them what they are doing, and why they believe it is socially, economically or environmentally acceptable to support desalination ahead of the better alternatives.

We met 11.30 am on Monday 7th Sept. at Flinders St. station before we head for the banks to do some leafletting.

One comment from outraged Melbournian “I just got my water bill which despite my usage going down has gone up a huge amount. I think this is for the useless desal and north/south pipeline. My friends are cheesed off too.”