The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) is calling on the NSW Government to apply increased penalties to Snowy Hydro Limited and its contractors for repeated pollution incidents in Kosciuszko National Park.
‘The community was assured that the massive Snowy 2.0 project would be subject to strict environmental Conditions of Approval, and that government agencies would tightly scrutinise Snowy Hydro’s performance. Yet over the last 2 years the Department of Planning and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have issued more than a dozen warnings, enforceable undertakings, cautions and fines to Snowy Hydro and its contractors. Even worse, there is no indication that the pattern of non-compliance is under control’ stated NPA CEO Gary Dunnett.
When penalising two pollution breaches last year, the EPA reprimanded Snowy Hydro, saying: “these incidents simply should not have occurred. Every industry has a role to play in reducing their impact, but your role is even more critical when you’re based in one of our state’s most pristine environments.”
The four Independent Environmental Audits of the Snowy 2.0 project to date have shown serious shortfalls in compliance with the Conditions of Approval. NPA has compiled a report on Snowy 2.0’s abysmal environmental performance using publicly available information.
‘The regulators have assured us that they take their responsibilities seriously, and the fact that so many actions have taken place is encouraging in that context’ acknowledged Gary Dunnett. ‘However what is equally clear is that the regulatory actions haven’t forced Snowy Hydro and its contractors to become good tenants in the National Park. Small fines aren’t going to cut it, the regulators must escalate their actions to the courts if they expect to Snowy Hydro’s behaviour to improve.
Media contacts:
Gary Dunnett, NPA CEO
02 9299 0000