By NOEL MURPHY
PROTECTION of Anglesea heath must be written into any sale of Alcoa’s coal mine, according to local conservationists.
Dorothy Hutton, of Anglesea, Airey’s Inlet Society for the Protection of Flora and Fauna (ANGAIR), was concerned about the future of the heath without Alcoa’s environmental management.
“We want the (State) Government to have protection of the area as a condition of the sale,” Ms Hutton said.
“Our concern is the huge Anglesea heath, a specific geographic area bounded by the Alcoa leasehold. It’s been managed jointly by Parks Victoria and Alcoa as a type-two national park.
“They’ve done really good work in managing the area to maximise its biodiversity but we do have major concerns about protection under a new owner.”
Ms Hutton said the environmental impact of “all power stations and mines” was questionable but Alcoa had “probably done a better job than most on the revegetation of its backfill”.
“We’ve been thrilled by the diversity of the vegetation that’s come back,” she said.
Surf Coast Air Action has also expressed concern about the mine’s future ownership, wanting it closed. The group argues the mine is one-tenth the size of the Latrobe Valley’s Hazelwood but produces three times the sulphur dioxide as well as large quantities of carcinogenic particulate.
About 80 workers will lose their jobs if Alcoa is unable to sell the mine and power station by year’s end. The station provides power for Alcoa’s Point Henry operations, closing in August at the cost of about 600 jobs.
