9 September 2009
International professional services company GHD has been
appointed by the Office of the Environmental Monitor in Victoria as
the independent auditor for the Port Phillip Bay dredging
project.
The dredging of existing shipping channels within the bay is
being carried out to allow larger cargo ships to access to the Port
of Melbourne, expanding the capability of Australia’s premier
container port.
A condition of the project’s approval was the establishment of an
independent environmental monitor to ensure the project was given
the scrutiny it required. The Office of the Environmental Monitor
is providing an around-the-clock view of the environmental
performance of the channel deepening project.
Dr Peter Nadebaum, a senior member of GHD’s environment team with
more than 30 years’ experience in environmental manager, will run a
total of 11 independent environmental audits on the dredging
activities.
Environmental Monitor Mick Bourke said: "The Office is pleased to
have Dr Nadebaum on board to help us ensure the project isn't
cutting any corners".
"Dr Nadebaum has a lot of experience conducting environmental
audits and has managed a long list of significant auditing projects
including environmental audits of major Victorian and interstate
organisations and operations.
"I am confident Dr Nadebaum and his team will closely examine the
project’s environmental performance to determine whether or not the
Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) and its project have followed
the Environmental Management Plan’s rules that are in place to
protect the long-term health of the bay," Mr Bourke said.
Auditing of the project began this week and will involve four
audits to assess PoMC’s implementation of the rulebook and seven
audits to examine the environmental compliance of key parts of the
project, including ensuring that no over-dredging has happened at
the entrance of the bay and that the bund has been built exactly as
was planned.
The GHD team will use a rigorous, systematic process to check that
the various requirements have been met, and that there is evidence
to back this up.
Dr Nadebaum said: “The methods that the audit team will use follow
the methods that are adopted internationally for such work. In
fact, Australia has been at the forefront of using audits to
provide assurance that regulatory compliance is achieved. We have
been applying these methods in diverse areas such as the auditing
of drinking water systems to ensure that they are safe, in the
auditing of contaminated land, groundwater and sediments to ensure
that they will not affect human health and the environment, and in
the auditing of the environmental management systems of major
organisations to ensure that the environment will be
protected”.
Mr Bourke said the Office expected to have the first independent
audit report available to the community by the end of October
2008.
"Should the audits find anything unusual; the Office will consider
the audit findings and determine the need, scope and means by which
an investigation should be conducted," he said.
"The Office will immediately inform PoMC and the project’s
regulators of any non-conformances identified by the independent
auditor. The Office will also promptly inform the community."
For further information, contact:
Mandi Zonneveldt