Dear Department of Defence,
I request access to all initial environmental impact assessments undertaken by, or on behalf of, Australia and/or the US Navy for the Mobile User Objective System ground station at Kojarena WA. I also request access to all records of environmental monitoring of the MUOS installation since it commenced operation.

Yours faithfully,
Julie Marlow

Dear Ms Sansom,
Thank you for your response to my request. I will complete the 'FOI Request - Authorisation' form and return it to you by post.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Marlow

Dear Department of Defence,

Re.: FOI 139/13/14 Request for internal review
I thank DSRG staff for attending to my FOI request of 8 October 2013 and providing a copy of ‘Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), Western Australia: Initial Environmental Review’.

The received document is useful but contains only in part the information I seek. The document only contains information compiled for the Australian Department of Defence and only about environmental impacts of the construction stage of the ground station; it contains no information compiled by or for the US Navy nor about environmental impacts of an operational MUOS ground station.

I request an internal review of the Department’s decision concerning my request on the following grounds:
1) Defence’s decision on my FOI requests makes no mention of my request for relevant US documents. The US Navy made available to the government of Italy its environmental impact statement (EIS) on the MUOS ground station at the US Naval Radio Transmitter Facility, 5 km from Niscemi, Sicily, a partner-installation to the installation at Kojarena. In the US EIS, environmental impacts of both construction and operation were taken into account. This suggests that a US Navy EIS for the Kojarena ground station exists, takes operational impacts into consideration and is available to the Australian Government. I ask that my request be seen as including a request for the US EIS for the Kojarena MUOS station.
2) Given its focus is limited to the construction stage of the ground station, the received document, ‘MUOS, Western Australia: Initial Environment Review’, is by no means a complete environmental assessment. Assessment of environmental impacts is part of planning and approval processes of a technological project—no such assessment would be complete without considering impacts of the technology when in use.
3) In the second part of my FOI request, I ask for access to monitoring records of the ground station since operation. This was refused on the basis that operation had not commenced. I regret not giving more thought to my wording. However, my assumption that the ground station was operational was well-based. According to Defence Department media releases (MECC 422/07 DATED 8 November 2007 and MECC 238/08 DATED 21 July 2008), the WA MUOS ground station was scheduled to become operational in March 2010 and work was expected to start in the third quarter of 2008. No public announcement of a delay in schedule has been made. My hope is that my request can be given a more flexible reading and seen to be a request for information about anticipated and potential environmental impacts of an operational MUOS ground station.
4) A strong local movement opposing the MUOS station in Sicily on environmental grounds has attracted global media coverage. Independent scientific evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of the station has confirmed the concerns of the local people. In particular, I am aware of the 2011 report of the Politecnico di Torino’s Massimo Zucchetti and Massimo Coraddu (‘Mobile User Objective System at the Naval Radio Transmitter Facility, Niscemi: Risk Analysis’). The consternation of the local authorities is such that they have demanded that work cease on the station until further environmental research was undertaken (overridden by the Italian Government). The Australian Department of Defence is surely aware of what has occurred in Sicily and has undertaken in-house or independent reviews of the Zucchetti/Coraddu report, and/or studies of other researchers, for their relevance to the Kojarena station. I would be grateful if the import of my request could be seen to include access to any reviews of or responses to scientific studies of the MUOS ground station, Niscemi.

I am sending you a hard copy of this letter.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

Julie Marlow

Dear Ms Kopec,
Thank you for your letter and for forwarding the letter from My Tony Corcoran.

I have replied by post to Mr Corcoran, making the following request: "I would be grateful to receive clarification of your view of Item 2[of my initial FOI request]: Am I right to conclude that no risk assessment exists of environmental impacts of an operational Kojarena MUOS ground station?"

Yours sincerely,

Julie Marlow

Dear Ms Kopec,
On 7 January 2014, I wrote to Mr Tony Corcoran, PSM, Assistant Secretary, Ministerial and Information Branch, Department of Defence.

In that letter, I sought clarification of his view of Item 2 of my FOI request for environmental assessment documents relating to the MUOS ground satellite station at Kojarena, WA. My question was: "Am I right to conclude that no risk assessment exists of environmental impacts of an operational Kojarena MUOS ground station?"

Would you please advice me if the question I put to Mr Corcoran is within his remit or should I file a new FOI request.

Following is a copy of my letter to Mr Corcoran.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Marlow

"Tony Corcoran PSM
Assistant Secretary
Ministerial and Information Branch CPI-6-014
Department of Defence
Campbell Park Offices
Canberra ACT 2600

7 January 2014

Dear Mr Corcoran,
Re.: FOI 139/13/14
Thank you for your letter advising me of the result of your review of the decision on my request for access to records of assessment of the environmental impacts of the Kojarena MUOS satellite ground station at Kojarena, WA.
In relation to Item 1 of my request, you advise me that the Australian Department of Defence has not received an Environmental Impact Study of the MUOS ground station from the US Navy and suggest I enquire through the FOI process of the US Navy. I will consider doing as you suggest.
In relation to Item 2 of my request, you state that no environmental assessment of the operation of the MUOS ground station exists because the station is not operational.
I would be grateful to receive clarification of your view of Item 2: Am I right to conclude that no risk assessment exists of environmental impacts of an operational Kojarena MUOS ground station?
Yours sincerely,

Julie Marlow"