Woongal Environmental Services has secured the contract to start environmental monitoring and surveying for the Adani Carmichael coal mine site with work slated to commence mid to end of February 2019.
The company Woongal Environmental Services is chaired by Tony Johnson a Gooreng Gooreng man from the Port Curtis Coral Coast Nation.
The Woongal executive explains his company submitted a proposal to Adani to make sure that they deliver their indigenous participation program.
He added that they meet all their state and federal licencing and legal requirements to start operations.
Tony Johnson contends that the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J), the Traditional Owners of the land where Adani wants to build their coal mine, will be among the beneficiaries of the environmental agreement and the operation going ahead.
“The project paves the way for Traditional Owners and Indigenous people to gain new employment and training opportunities,” Tony Johnson says.
“For the W&J people it provides an opportunity for them to be involved in the environmental monitoring of activities around the mine site. It is also an opportunity for them to get some regular work”.
The chair of Woongal stresses that the W&J people are involved as one of his company’s executives is a W&J person.
It will be a good compliment to have Aboriginal land practices, or management, in conjunction with the scientific rigour that is required to monitor significant projects like this.
He also asserts that Woongal has entered discussions with the Central Queensland University with a view for some of their field staff to undertake diploma courses in environmental monitoring processes.
“This will give them knowledge that they can use elsewhere. It will make them much more employable,” Tony Johnson says.
Woongal is doing some baseline repairing and habitat monitoring. The project will initially employ up to ten Traditional Owners field officers.
“It is about upskilling the capacity of Aboriginal people. And this company and initiative provides us with that opportunity.”
Tony Johnson highlights that Woongal is a private company with 30 years’ experience in environmental monitoring and mine monitoring in particular.
He argues that it will be a good compliment to have Aboriginal land practices, or management, in conjunction with the scientific rigour that is required to monitor significant projects like this.
“We’ll be getting 30 years’ experience from well-practiced and seasoned practitioners. What I also want to recognise is that we’ll also bring the 40 000 years’ experience Aboriginal people have in caring for Country.”
The interview was done in December 2018. The first batch of employees were slated to have completed their training early January. Surveying and monitoring work are expected to start mid to late February 2019.
