Media release – Restore Pedder, 2 December 2022
Dam Edgar ‘strengthening’ project costs creeping up before the project gets Federal approval – it’s time to decommission the dams
“Costs of the Edgar ‘strengthening’ are creeping up before the project has been referred for Federal approval; Tasmanians must wonder what the blow out will be on the larger and more expensive Scott’s Peak dam,” Christine Milne AO, Convenor of the Lake Pedder Restoration Inc and former Australia Greens leader said.
Initially work on the Edgar was quoted at $15m and has incrementally increased to the latest figure of $24m, quoted in today’s GBE scrutiny committee hearing of Hydro Tasmania. Scott’s Peak figures have in the past been quoted in excess of $50m.
During the hearing Hydro confirmed both the Edgar and Scott’s Peak dams, two of the three dams which impound Lake Pedder, are classified as ‘high risk’ under the national safety regulations and require priority work. Both dams are built on the Edgar Fault line but Hydro didn’t today confirm that the proposed works will guarantee the dams will not fail with seismic induced ground surface displacement, which has been the prominent shifting of the Edgar fault in the past.
‘No one can guarantee that the dams won’t fail in an earthquake. It is time to remove the risk altogether.’
“Tasmania has an open window of opportunity to give security to Huonville and communities downstream, change the Pedder impoundment narrative, from a bungled scheme, costing millions to contribute just 57MW annually to the state, to becoming a world leader in ecosystem restoration by restoring Lake Pedder.”
Lake Pedder, the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was flooded in 1972 to create a highly regulated Hydro storage impoundment. ICOMOS and the IUCN included the man-made Pedder impoundment in the TWWHA boundary with the intent that one day the original, geographical asset of outstanding universal value, would be restored.
“With Australia seemingly yet to nominate a flagship project for the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, Lake Pedder is our opportunity for a bold new direction for Tasmania to put itself back on the global map.
“With the 40th anniversary of the TWWHA in December, what a powerful notion of Federal Labor’s commitment to biodiversity restoration it would be to fulfill the intent of Lake Pedder inclusion in the world heritage area, decommissioning the dams and instead restoring the wonder of Lake Pedder.”
