The Hazelwood Rehabilitation Project involves the final rehabilitation of the former Hazelwood Mine to a safe, stable and sustainable landform capable of supporting productive land uses. The proposed final landform for the former Hazelwood Mine void is a lake to a relative level of +45 metres Australian Height Datum. The proposed lake would provide for long term safety and stability of the mine void (batters and floor), obviate a requirement for ongoing groundwater pumping into perpetuity, minimise fire risk in the M1 coal seam, and provide opportunities for future investment and uses that might be delivered by Government, the local community, or the private sector.
Creating a sustainable future for an old mine
Key works for the project include:
- Filling of the Mine void to a final level of up to relative level of +45m Australian Height Datum using predominately groundwater and surface water
- Final rehabilitation and reprofiling works on the upper mine batters (above the surface of the future mine lake)
- Final decommissioning and drainage of the Hazelwood Cooling Pond and restoration of the natural alignment of Eel Hole Creek
- Decommissioning remaining redundant infrastructure, such as redundant roads, car parks, buildings and pumphouses on the Hazelwood Cooling Pond
- Construction and operation of infrastructure necessary to maintain lake depth and water quality following completion of fill, including potential Morwell River interconnection
Delivering compliance through a comprehensive approach听听
We managed the delivery of the Environment Effects Statement for the Hazelwood Rehabilitation Project. This serves as the accredited environmental assessment process for the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) EPBC Act under a Bilateral Assessment Agreement between the Commonwealth and Victorian governments.听听
ENGIE Hazelwood engaged us in 2021 to provide strategic advice on regulatory approvals pathways and prepare the Victorian Environment Effects Statement and EPBC referrals for the project. To support the referrals, we also prepared preliminary biodiversity and heritage appraisal reports detailing the site鈥檚 existing conditions based on desktop information about the rehabilitation鈥檚 effects on biodiversity and heritage values.听
Our team led the environmental assessments and regulatory engagement process for the Environment Effects Statement. This included:听
- Preparing the Environment Effects Statement documentation and managing the delivery of 17 specialist impact assessments and associated peer reviews for water balance and water quality modelling, surface water modelling and groundwater modelling
- Assisting ENGIE Hazelwood in navigating the complex regulatory environment, including legacy issues and interfaces with other statutory processes, and associated engagement with regulatory agencies听
Key outcomes and value we provided:听
- Strategic advice on approval pathways, given our extensive experience in the applicable legislation and learnings from a wide range of projects
- Use of established relationships with the regulators to support regulator engagement and manage project risks
- Coordination and preparation of quality deliverables using our extensive experience in managing Environment Effects Statements and technical specialists听