Mr Geoffrey Goode
President
Port Phillip Conservation Council
18 Anita Street
Beaumaris VIC 3193

21 March 2002

Dear Mr Goode

This weekend the VCA will begin preparatory work for its routine major maintenance dredging scheduled for September 2002.

Major maintenance dredging is required to clear a build-up of sand and silt in the channels to ensure the declared depth is maintained for the safety of shipping. It will be conducted in accordance with EPA approvals.

This work is part of the VCA’s regular maintenance dredging program and is not related to the Channel Deepening studies.

The preparatory work for major maintenance dredging will take approximately four weeks and will involve seismic survey work as well as some drilling to extract core samples.

The purpose of the seismic survey work is to obtain information about the sea-floor conditions and the soil profile for use by the contractors who will later perform the maintenance dredging.

The work will be performed by the VCA’s survey vessel, Shearwater, in the areas located at the eastern and western ends of the South Channel and in the Port Melbourne channels. Survey work will only be carried out during daylight hours.

This survey is a small-scale seismic operation. It is being conducted at only between one-tenth and one-twentieth of the output power of surveys undertaken for offshore oil and gas, as well as at a low frequency.

This activity will be well within the applicable standard for this type of operation published by the Australian and New Zealand Environment Council, ensuring that there will be no harm to the marine habitat, including local dolphin populations.

The seismic survey and sample data will be used in preparing tender documents for the major maintenance dredging, which is programmed to begin in September. The dredging will take approximately 8-12 weeks and will include the South Channel, Melbourne and Geelong.

I will provide further details concerning this activity as the commencement date nears.

Should you have any immediate enquiries however, I can be contacted by phoning the VCA on 03 9612 3512.

Yours sincerely

Tim Muir
Manager Marine Operations