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Wilderness Society halts pulp mill challenge
January, 2008
The Wilderness Society has announced it will not be taking its legal challenge to the Gunns' pulp mill approval process to the High Court.
The Society's challenge to the assessment process was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal on 22 November 2007 and the Society had been considering appealing the decision to the High Court.
According to the Society's Legal Coordinator Greg Ogle, the cost of further legal appeals are too big and pose an unacceptable risk, and that the Society's money will be better spent on other campaign initiatives to stop this mill.
"We are disappointed by not being able to continue with our legal challenge because the Federal Court was split on whether the impact of the mill on forests should have been considered," Mr Ogle said in a statement dated 14 December 2007. "It was outrageous that these impacts were not assessed, and our advice is that the law is certainly contestable here."
On 4 October 2007, former Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull, approved the construction and operation of Gunns' pulp mill in Tasmania's Tamar Valley under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The approval decision imposed 48 environmental conditions on the mill, including:
- An Environmental Impact Management Plan strictly prescribing all actions relating to EPBC Act matters;
- An independent panel, drawn from national and international experts, to oversee the design, implementation and monitoring of the pulp mill;
- An independent inspector, appointed by the Australian Government, to monitor Gunns compliance; and
- Guarantee of tertiary treatment of effluent, in the unlikely event it becomes necessary.
Despite these conditions, the mill's construction raised widespread opposition from Environmental and Wilderness advocates. But on 22 November 2007 the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the Wilderness Society's challenge to the assessment process.
Lawyers for Forests launch new legal challenge
Although the Society was unable to proceed, they expressed full support for Lawyers for Forests Association (LFF), which launched a new legal challenge to the approval decision on 29 November 2007.
The LFF said it was concerned:
- about the significant impact that the mill would have on the environment, including on the marine environment, native forests and the species that rely on those habitats; and
- that the decision to approve the mill complies with law.
LFF said it is challenging the legal basis of the decision to approve the pulp mill by seeking judicial review of it. The grounds of the challenge all relate to the fact that the Minister approved the mill, but attached conditions. The LFF believe the conditions allow the mill to produce a volume of toxic effluent set by Gunns, which is absent from any proper scientific measurement.
The hearing is set for 10:15 am on 4 February 2008 in the Federal Court of Australia.
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