Port of Melbourne should cough up for bay dredging damage bill

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Media release

The Port of Melbourne Corporation should be forced to use its environmental performance bond to make up for the serious and unexpected dredging impacts on Port Phillip Bay's unique sponge gardens, the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said today.

VNPA spokesperson Paige Shaw said the Brumby Government should make those responsible pay for turning Melbourne's colourful sponge gardens into a construction site.

"The Victorian Government should require the Port of Melbourne Corporation to use its $100 million bond money to offset the incredible damage done to the unique sponge gardens at Port Phillip Heads following bay dredging operations," she said.

The call follows revelations that rockfall damage to Rip Bank at the bay's entrance has been far worse than predicted since dredging operations began in 2008, with rubble continuing to scour and blanket reef surfaces.

"Scientists say up to 55 per cent of reef areas at Rip Bank are now bare rock because of rockfall impacts. And many areas are now being invaded and replaced by seaweeds which could irreversibly change the sponge gardens," Ms Shaw said.

"This area is a biodiversity hotspot for sea sponges, one of the most ecologically significant parts of the bay and a mecca for the local dive tourism industry. More than 100 species found at or near the Port Phillip entrance canyon are found nowhere else on earth."

The sponge gardens were recently listed by the Victorian Government as a threatened community under the State's Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, but it was too late to protect them from the dredging damage.

ACF spokesperson Chris Smyth said the state government should use the bond money to make sure Victoria's underwater environment was protected from the impact of major projects like channel deepening.

"The Port of Melbourne Corporation may find it difficult to restore the Rip Bank sponges, but they can offset the damage by putting up the funds to establish a comprehensive community monitoring and mapping program in Victorian waters, including Port Phillip and Western Port bays," he said.

"We're calling on the state government to also use the Port's $100 million bond money to protect other significant and unique marine habitats across Victoria by strengthening our planning laws and creating an integrated marine planning and management system."

Contacts for this story:

Paige Shaw, VNPA Marine and Coastal Project Officer, 03 9341 6508 or email paiges@vnpa.org.au.

Chris Smyth, ACF Healthy Oceans Campaigner, 0438 123 536 c.smyth@acfonline.org.au