Prime Minister Howard is right to insist that the pulp mill satisfies 'all environmental considerations' before a decision on Gunns proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley is made, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
 
"The problem for Gunns is that its mill proposal cannot and does not satisfy the guidelines originally set for it, or the environmental or business expectations of the 100,000 people living in the Tamar Valley," Senator Brown said.
 
"And it is an unsurmountable problem that Gunns has failed to do the baseline studies for scientists to evaluate what the sixty thousand tonnes of effluent a day will do to Bass Strait. "
 
"The second problem is the division of responsibility between the state and federal governments. Mr Howard's statement must be read to include the satisfaction of state environmental considerations, such as the impact on forests, threatened species habitat, pollution of the air and the mill's huge greenhouse gas emissions," Senator Brown said.
 
"The social impact, including the serious human health consequences and the threatened loss of jobs and business in the Valley's clean green industries, must also be taken into account by the Howard government."
 
Senator Brown said that Mr Howard's stance seems at least as strong as that being taken by Shadow environment spokesperson Peter Garrett.
 
"Who could have predicted this?" Senator Brown asked.
 
Peter Garrett will be in Hobart tonight and Senator Brown will be addressing a Greens fundraising dinner, about the pulp mill, in Launceston.
 
Further information: Ebony Bennett 0409 164 603