Snowy Hydro’s giant pumped hydro project is in breach of its conditions of approval, with many of its management plans overdue and no progress on its threatened fish and biosecurity programs, the National Parks Association has said.
The multibillion-dollar Snowy 2.0 project, already delayed until possibly 2029 with one of its tunnel borers stuck for months, was found to be non-compliant in 15 instances by the third independent audit, completed last year. It also cited 11 additional “opportunities for improvement”.
As of 11 May, seven of 16 required management plans had yet to be approved, the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment told the NPA. However, just six of the plans had been posted on Snowy Hydro’s website, leaving the remaining 10 overdue by as much as 31 months, the group said.
The department told the NPA this month it had “taken informal enforcement action (warning letter) against Snowy Hydro on 10 August 2022 for the failure at the time to have a number of management plans approved within the required timeframe”. It would “assess the continued non-compliance”.
Ted Woodley, a former energy executive and a co-author of the NPA report, said the whole project – inside the Kosciuszko national park – had been approved subject to a total of 125 environmental conditions being met.
“Clearly, almost three years down the track, they’re not being met, and wherever you look, there are plans that haven’t been prepared,” Woodley said.
Of concern was the lack of plans to deal with biosecurity risks from the huge project to drill tunnels as long as 27km and build an underground power station. At particular risk was the last remaining colony of the critically endangered stocky galaxias fish.
“None of these plans have been completed, and are now overdue by seven to 19 months,” the report said. “The delays are prejudicing the management of devastating impacts from the future spread of pest fish and pathogens in particular from Talbingo Reservoir up to Tantangara Reservoir and thence throughout the Snowy Mountains and beyond.”
Woodley said the biodiversity plans were “extremely important”. “At this stage, it appears that no work whatsoever has been initiated on those plans,” he said.
A spokesperson for the commonwealth government-owned Snowy Hydro said it was “disappointed” it had not been consulted by the NPA over its report.
“From the outset of the project proposal, Snowy Hydro has liaised closely and regularly with the NSW department of planning and other regulatory bodies,” the spokesperson said.
“Snowy Hydro is compliant with the Snowy 2.0 conditions of approval and together with the project contractor, Future Generation Joint Venture, we are operating within the bounds of the construction management plans,” she said, adding some plans were “well under way, pending feedback and input from relevant stakeholder agencies”.
A spokesperson for the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said: “The department has been making inquiries into whether Snowy 2.0 is compliant with its federal approval condition for some months. As this is an active matter, the department will not comment further.”
A NSW Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said the department sent Snowy Hydro a warning letter on 10 August 2022 “for failing to submit several management plans within the required timeframe”.
“We will take appropriate action as required, in accordance with our compliance policy.”
Sue Higginson, the NSW Greens’ environment spokesperson, said the project had “become a long-term serial offender against the vital safeguards put in place to protect Kosciuszko national park”.
“Repeated non-compliance with the conditions of approval and little evidence that they are responding to independent audits of their performance indicates a disregard for the sensitive environment of the national park,” she said.
Higginson called on the new state government to review urgently last year’s decision to extend the time between external audits from one every 26 weeks to one every 18 months.
“This project has effectively become an unstoppable behemoth that is treating the environment and government approvals with little to no regard,” she said. “It is unacceptable that the previous Coalition governments were willing to let these issues slide, but Labor should be acting now to bring this catastrophic project back under control.”
