[3] At 1.56 tonnes of CO2 for each megawatt hour of electricity, it was 50% more polluting than the average black coal power station in New South Wales or Queensland.

The EES also capped its expected total greenhouse output at 445 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its life, after which Hazelwood may have been made to cease operation.

However, credits for investment in renewable energy and low emission technology were expected to allow the business to operate within the cap and extend its life.

This is in addition to $324 million payable by the owners for redundancy and leave entitlements over the two years after closure, bringing the total cost of closing the plant to almost $1.1 billion.

[21] In a press release on the subject of the closure, Engie in Australia's Chief Executive, Alex Keisser, acknowledged the contributions of past and present Hazelwood employees, and the role the power station has played in the Latrobe Valley.

Our employees past and present, as well as contractors, local suppliers and businesses, and the broader Latrobe Valley community have all played their part in ensuring that Hazelwood has been a key player in the nation's electricity system over that time.

Victoria should be very proud that Hazelwood has continued operating for more than 50 years, producing the electricity that has under-pinned the state's economic development and well-being.

The Greenpeace report attributed 37 deaths in the south-east Gippsland region to pollution from coal plants, with almost half of those in the Latrobe Valley.

[1] The estimated annual health burden on the community of Hazelwood's air pollution was $100 million each year, calculated using methodology developed by the US National Academy of Sciences.

On 28 February the Chief Health Officer of Victoria advised the vulnerable groups of people in Morwell South to temporarily relocate due to the danger of PM2.5 particles.

[37] The Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry Report was published in 2016 and stated that the community has experienced adverse health effects and may be affected for an indeterminate period into the future.

The Board estimated the total cost borne by the Victorian Government, the local community and the operator of the Hazelwood mine, GDF Suez, to exceed $100 million.

International Power Hazelwood spokesperson Neil Lawson has responded, "It is well documented that there is still an amount of contained asbestos material which, if required, is being progressively and safely removed by specialised licensed contractors during major plant outages and maintenance activities.

"[44] The same newspaper subsequently reported comments by EPA that the Hazelwood business had no case to answer and that asbestos fibres were not present in its smokestacks.

Former ACF Executive director Don Henry said he would follow formal objections with legal action to prevent the grant of 'new' coal to IPRH.

In May 2016 the petition postcards were handed to French Environment Minister Segolene Royale on TV, which led to her response announcement that ENGIE would disengage from Hazelwood.

In June 2009, an anonymous letter purporting to come from the Earth Liberation Front was sent to the home of the CEO of the power station, Graeme York.

[48] The ELF letter was publicly condemned by Greenpeace, whose activists had engaged in nonviolent direct action at the plant six weeks earlier.

[26] A large mass civil disobedience rally, the largest of its kind at any Australian power station, was undertaken by a network of organisations under the banner Switch Off Hazelwood.

On 13 September 2009, an estimated 500 people participated in near freezing conditions, with many camping nearby on the previous night on Hazelwood's own property beside the pondage.

A large number of Hazelwood employees turned up to engage the protest organisers in a spirited debate about the reality of local jobs.

[54] Organisers liaised with Victoria Police prior to and during the demonstration and publicly declared intentions to undertake "peaceful civil disobedience" by entering the grounds of the power station to place symbolic decommission notices on the plant building.

The organisers also distributed guidelines asking participants to use "peaceful protest tactics" and held a number of training sessions on civil disobedience and nonviolence prior to the event.

The rally began at 11am with speeches from Australian Greens Scott Ludlam, Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation, author David Spratt and Melbourne based paediatrician Merryn Redenbach, amongst others, with several speakers stressing that protesters had no argument with police or plant workers and emphasising the organising group's calls for new wind turbine, solar water and insulation manufacturing capacity to be developed in the Latrobe Valley.

One person was also charged with assault after a police officer was allegedly "thrown backwards" while trying to stop a protester who was running towards the plant gates after scaling a temporary fence.

[57] Supporters of the protest said that nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience was necessary because other avenues to achieve change, such as petitions, letters, rallies and community meetings, had been explored and exhausted.

[53] Environment groups had also lodged application to have the impact of greenhouse gas emissions considered in the Environmental Effects Statement which approved the access to Hazelwood's own coal fields in 2005.

[58] The rally was featured in the main group of lead items on every Victorian television and radio news broadcast that same evening, and in Newspapers the following morning.

There were two training sessions held prior to the rally for participants in non-violent direct action, these occurred 18 September and 2 October at Trades Hall, Melbourne.

[60] A two-year pilot trial of an algae photobioreactor was undertaken at Hazelwood in the early 2000s by Energetix, a division of the Victor Smorgon Group.