Save Westernport

URGENT: We know AGL has asked the EPA to weaken Victoria’s waste water restrictions to allow them to dump cold chlorinared water from their heat exchange straight into the Bay. If this change is allowed, it would make it easier for their gas processing plant to gain approval, even though the cumulative impacts on Westernport‘s marine ecology are unknown and could be devastating.

Please make a comment to EPA, even if it’s past the deadline on Oct 31,  or let them know you intend to comment at sublegreform@epa.vic.gov.au 

Your submission does not have to be technical, it takes just 5 minutes. Please tell them
– no new emissions must be allowed into wetlands and waterways.

– Corporations cannot be permitted to regulate their own waste in water or air.

– the EPA MUST NOT lift restrictions and weaken the few environmental protection laws we have in Victoria.

It could make polluting legal for corporations like AGL. 

If these laws are changed, it could allow AGL to dump 450 million litres of cold chlorinated water into Westernport every day it operates. AGL has said “we expect it would cause no harm to Westernport’s marine environment”,  but we know in the past they have cut corners, polluting and degrading the environment and increasing their profits.

Please tell the EPA that the job of the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY must be to protect the Environment from corporations like AGL. They must not WEAKEN the Environmental Protection Laws already in place. We know that corporations who profit from environmentally harmful projects cannot be trusted to effectively regulate themselves.

AGL’s appalling environmental track record has been widely reported in national media. You can read the growing list of AGL’s accidents, spills and past convictions for DECEPTIVE AND MISLEADING CONDUCT  here.

Remember, if you need more time, please email EPA to let them know you intend to comment at: sublegreform@epa.vic.gov.au

Fill in the form here to make a comment: 

Thank you from Save Westernport.

More Info from Environment Victoria:

Right now the Andrews government is considering new rules that could weaken the EPA’s powers to stop companies like AGL from dumping polluted water into our precious wetlands. These new rules also fail to set clear guidelines for the EPA to fulfill their duty to cut climate pollution.

Will you make a submission to their public consultation to say this is not OK? Act now: the public consultation closes tomorrow! 

Make a submission here: 

On July 1 2020 Victoria’s new Environment Protection Act will come into effect. 

This will help shape Victoria’s environmental future. Strong environmental laws are vital to protect our precious ecosystems and cut climate pollution in Victoria.

Sadly, the proposed regulations that go with the new Act miss the mark on the climate crisis and protecting nature.

Earlier this year we exposed AGL’s efforts to weaken Victoria’s environmental legislation which would prevent them from building a gas import terminal in Westernport Bay’s Ramsar wetlands.

Now the EPA is proposing to weaken these regulations. For the first time in 30 years, companies like AGL could get the greenlight to discharge polluted water into our precious Victorian aquatic environments like internationally recognised Ramsar Wetlands.

And in the midst of a climate crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of Australians marching for climate action, the proposed regulations fail to create clear guidelines for the Environment Protection Authority to deal with climate polluters. 

Despite already having the powers to deal with climate pollution, so far the EPA has chosen to do nothing, claiming existing regulations don’t provide clear guidelines. Now the EPA is about to pass up an opportunity to solve this “issue”, choosing to maintain the status quo. This is not good enough.

Have your say, help us raise the level of environmental protection in Victoria 

Make a submission: 

Writing a submission can take less than 5 minutes. Here are the two most pressing issues the EPA need to hear about:

The proposed regulations do not make it possible for the EPA to manage and regulate greenhouse gases. In the midst of a climate crisis, we need clear rules that empower (or even better, require) the EPA to engage with climate polluters to limit their pollution.

New legislation should raise environmental standards, especially for the most sensitive environments like Westernport. 

It is crucial to keep the protections of clause 22(3) of the current State Environment Protection Policy (Waters) that forbids the EPA from approving new wastewater discharges in areas of high conservation value.

Write a submission to the EPA today and tell them to step up their game.

Have your say: 

The new legislation is likely to shape Victoria’s environmental future for decades. We have until this Thursday October 31 to push for better environmental regulations that put our climate and our precious habitats first.

We need to seize this moment and let them know that Victorians care deeply about our climate, our unique ecosystems, and the generations to come. 

Thank you 
From 
Save Westernport and Environment Victoria