Eleven community groups have joined forces in a groundswell of local opposition to the sale of Vales Point Power Station to Czech company, Sev.en Global Investments.
In September Sunset Power International announced its intention to sell the power station, along with Great Southern Energy’s Mannering Colliery and Chain Valley Colliery which provide coal to the power station.
Sev.en is a private investment group which targets restructuring and growth opportunities within the international energy and mining industry.
The 11 groups united against the power station sale are Coal-ash Community Alliance, Progress Associations at Mannering Park and Coal Point, Community Environment Network, Future Sooner, Hunter Community Environment Centre, Knitting Nannas Hunter Loop, Keep Lake Macquarie Clean, and Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups at Five Bays, Warners Bay and Toronto
They are urging Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers to reject the sale under the foreign investment review powers of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and say Sev.en’s potential purchase of Vales Point power station has aroused concern, anxiety and suspicion in the local community.
The environment groups fear that power station impacts, including 60 million tonnes of coal-ash waste, thermal pollution affecting seagrass and toxic air emissions could worsen under new private ownership.
They are calling for accountability, transparency and certainty around the closure dates and rehabilitation of the power station.
“We need a guarantee that there will be no erosion of current pollution controls and assurance that environmental regulations will be fully enforced,” said Sue Wynn of Mannering Park Progress.
“We need certainty about the power station’s future.”
Spokesperson for the Hunter Community Environment Centre, Jo Lynch said the community was still in the dark about the role of Vales Point in the recent fish kills.
“What actions are being taken to reduce decades of contamination impacts, recently found to have leached offsite?
“How the new owner will view these issues of high priority to local communities and environments is unclear,” she said.
Central Coast Greens, the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) and Environmental Justice Australia have also expressed their concerns over the power station sale.
The NCC says the sale should trigger the NSW Environment Protection Authority to bring the plant into compliance with Clean Air Regulation and the Greens are concerned the closure of the power station would “more likely” be extended beyond its scheduled date of 2029.
“At the very least, a clear schedule and conditions must be put on the sale that ensures the clean-up of the coal-ash dams and rehabilitation of the land, based on all international environmental standards,” said Greens MP and Central Coast, Hunter and Newcastle spokesperson, Abigail Boyd.
And Future Sooner spokesperson, Gary Blaschke of Lake Munmorah, says there should be an independent transparent review into the sale that includes community consultation and involvement.
Sue Murray