48 conditions can’t fix pulp mill’s many problems
Date: 4-Oct-2007
Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to approve Gunns Ltd’s proposed pulp mill is a tragedy for Tasmania’s forests and the marine environment of Bass Strait.
“Mr Turnbull has imposed 48 conditions on the mill, but the Minister’s decision leaves Tasmania’s high conservation value forests and marine environment with dozens of new problems,” said ACF Forests Campaigner Lindsay Hesketh.
“The conditions do not stop Tasmania’s old growth forests being logged to feed the mill, with the accompanying destruction of biodiversity and the release of around 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gas polluting carbon dioxide each year.
“The conditions do not stop toxic effluent being dumped into Bass Strait.
“A world’s best practice pulp mill is closed-loop, chlorine-free and fed by plantation trees, not old growth forests.
“The Minister has set up a monitoring regime, but it may have the effect of merely documenting the decline of the environment around the mill.
“If Tasmania is to have a world class pulp mill it must be fed by plantation forests and it must be closed-loop and chlorine-free,” Mr Hesketh said.