Federal environmental approvals confirmed for Binningup desalination plant

Water Minister Graham Jacobs this afternoon welcomed Federal environmental approval for the development of Western Australia's second seawater desalination plant confirming that work on the $955million project would begin within weeks.

Dr Jacobs said Federal environmental approval - the last approval required for the project- signalled that the departments of Environment; Water; Heritage; and Culture and the Arts were confident that all potential impacts listed under Federal environmental legislation would be mitigated and managed.

The WA Government provided environmental approval for the project in late April.

"The final environmental approvals came after two years of work and consultation in the development of management plans that will ensure the environment is protected into the future," Dr Jacobs said.             

The Minister said it was expected the Water Corporation would move quickly to formalise the design and construction, and operations and maintenance contracts with the preferred tenderer, the Southern SeaWater Alliance.  This had not been possible until all approvals were in place.

Construction activities would continue for the next two years with the workforce likely to peak at about 500. Work on a water pipeline to Harvey, which will link the plant to the Integrated Scheme and other components of the $955million project, would also begin shortly.

"There is no doubt the start of construction of this very major project will provide a stimulus for the South-West and other areas of Western Australia," the Minister said.

"The Water Corporation is committed to a buy local whenever possible policy and therefore the flow-on benefits should be evident in the near future.

"Apart from catering for the future growth of WA, the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant is also an essential element of the Water Corporation's plan to reduce its abstraction from the Gnangara Mound to a permanently sustainable level."      

Dr Jacobs paid tribute to the people of the nearby communities of Binningup and Myalup and the local farming community, who had been influential through their input into shaping the plant's final design and the environmental management plans.

"We as a Government are fully aware that this has at times been arduous process for these communities and on behalf of the WA Government and the Alliance, I thank them for their ongoing involvement," he said.

"The Alliance and the Water Corporation will be part of these communities for the next 25 years and these bodies will always be mindful of the need to be good neighbours and good corporate citizens."