Latrobe Valley Express Thursday 17 June 2021

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THURSDAY, 17 JUNE, 2021

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REAL ESTATE AGENCY TURNS 80 PAGE 10

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ANC forestry workers Rick Land, Pera Ranui and Jakson Elfring are donating their time and heavy machinery to clear Gilberts Road in Yinnar South. FULL STORY - PAGE 5

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MINING TO RESUME

By TOM GANNON AND MICHELLE SLATER

PREPARATIONS are in place to resume coal mining at Yallourn. EnergyAustralia executive energy Liz Westcott confirmed yesterday that limited mining activity would take place in another part of the mine, four kilometres from the area of concern which caused a suspension of coal mining late last week. “This will be conducted in line with detailed risk assessments, consultation with the Victorian mining regulator and in strict accordance with our health and safety plans,” she said.

It comes after additional cracking was unearthed in the Morwell River diversion wall when flood levels receded on Tuesday. This is not the first headache the company has had with the wall since it was built in 2005. In 2012, it collapsed after heavy rain lashed the region and took two years to reconstruct at a cost of $150 million. Last week’s storms caused elevated river levels, sparking the mine to be evacuated on Friday and resulting in reduced generation output. As of yesterday, the power station was only running on one unit.

“Yallourn’s generation output is being maintained at an appropriate level to help conserve coal while also ensuring that demand for energy continues to be met,” Ms Westcott said. EnergyAustralia’s key focus has been on stopping river water from flowing into the Latrobe Valley-based mine. Ms Westcott said EnergyAustralia was working with experts, the state government and its onsite team to help mitigate the risks to the mine. “Our immediate priority is to stop the water flow,” she said. “However, we have suspended access to impacted areas until further geotechnical assessments have been

completed and risk assessments revised to address the changes observed.” Ms Westcott said the “situation continues to be dynamic” with an exclusion zone and temporary measures in place to seal visible cracks. She said EnergyAustralia was continuing to update the Australian Energy Market Operator, which confirmed to The Express there was still sufficient power being generated in Victoria to meet demand, “with no foreseeable reserve issues forecast”. Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the problem may take months to fix.

“All of the focus has been on trying to identify the issues of stability of the mine so that they can put in place engineering solutions,” Ms D’Ambrosio said. Friends of Latrobe Water member Tracey Anton said she was concerned about the potential for contamination from any mine water discharge licences that may be granted. “What monitoring of water quality will be put in place as the discharged water will now be full of coal contaminants including heavy metals?” Ms Anton told The Express.

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