Debate surrounding the recently approved stone extraction operation on O’Halloran Road continues, with the applicant’s consulting engineer, Nick Malkin, a mining and civil engineer from Porepunkah, offering a perspective grounded in the state’s regulatory framework. With 30 years of experience in the resources sector and 20 years in civil construction, Mr Malkin advocates for the sustainable use of natural resources, asserting that Victoria possesses the strongest regulatory framework in the nation to oversee this. Mr Malkin said a strong post-approval compliance framework also existed to ensure all operations adhere to permit requirements. According to the engineer, Resources Victoria has a compliance department that is "very active" in ensuring Work Authority conditions are met and EPA Victoria has significant funding and powers to deal with environmental issues. “Stone extraction, when done according to relevant guidelines and legislation is a genuine land improvement activity whilst also producing a much sought-after rock product,” he said. Mr Malkin said government compliance oversight ensures operations are done in an environmentally sensitive manner, with O’Halloran Road falling under the Small Quarries Code of Practice. Quarries that are less than five hectares in area and less than five metres in depth - provided that no blasting or native vegetation clearance occurs – are required to comply to this code, with Mr Malkin distinguishing these operations from conventional quarrying, characterising the enterprise at O’Halloran Road as a “light touch”. “Conventional quarries and open cut mines are typically designed with 10-metre high benches with some as high as 15 to 20 metres if the ground conditions are suitable,” he said. “Considering there could be anywhere from two to 15 benches, this could potentially create a void several hundred metres deep. “So, an excavation like O’Halloran Road that is two to five metres deep and then backfilled with half a metre to a metre’s depth of topsoil is very minor.” A key point of contention raised by objectors during the application process was the absence of a geotechnical report for the site. Mr Malkin pointed to Resources Victoria guidelines, indicating a geotechnical report is not a mandatory requirement for the scale and shallow depth of extraction at O’Halloran Road, with slope gradient not considered a mitigating factor. Objectors believe that while the depth may be relatively shallow, the principles of ground stability, material quality, and risk management still apply. Mr Malkin also addressed another of the objectors’ concerns, pertaining to truck movements and a reduction in amenity for Bridge Creek landholders. “Farming activity involves similar truck movements and dust generation when stock is moved between properties or taken to market,” he said. “Similar heavy machinery is used - tractors, trucks, excavators, headers and harvesters.” While the impact in isolation is similar, it is the frequency of truck movements in relation to the stone extraction operation that generated objections, with landholders predominantly graziers in Bridge Creek. “With farming, a large amount of chemicals are used for fertilising soil and pest and weed control,” Mr Malkin added. “Many of these are destructive to both the soil biology, native flora and fauna and waterways. “Those such as glyphosate have proven carcinogenic qualities and are banned in many countries. “This type of rock extraction has none of that,” he said of the impact. He affirmed the environmental impact of stone extraction is "negligible" in the short term and believes there are "no long-term impacts". Addressing the nature of the dissent, Mr Malkin suggests the remaining objections are "largely ideological” following the addressing of environmental and social concerns by industry and local government experts. “Granted, some mining in the past has had negative impacts, but the amount of regulation in place in Australia and particularly Victoria ensures that these impacts are virtually negligible,” he said. “Overall mining of the earth’s resources provides enormous benefits to humans ranging from roads and vehicles, to virtually every object we use on a daily basis – computers, phones, buildings and energy generation to name a few. “Everything comes from the earth,” he said.
