City hints at legal action

IN THE wake of threats of legal action, Wivenhoe dam's lead flood engineer says the dam manual was followed and the correct water release strategy was in place in January 2011.

Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale said on Thursday the city would launch legal action if the dam's managers were proved negligent.

The flood inquiry is holding fresh hearings to determine if the right release strategies were used at the right time in January last year. It's also looking at whether the inquiry was misled during last year's hearings.

The dam's four flood engineers have said the W3 release strategy, designed to protect urban areas, was enacted at 8am on Saturday January 8, the weekend before Ipswich and Brisbane were swamped. That position is also in Seqwater's final report on the dam's operation.

Dam managers had jumped from the W1 release strategy, aimed at minimising disruption to downstream rural life, to W3 as the flood event unfolded.

Lead flood engineer Robert Ayre told the inquiry he worked from 7am to 7pm on January 8.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Peter Callaghan yesterday questioned Mr Ayre about a 5.53pm situational report from that day, 10 hours after W3 was said to have been enacted.

Mr Ayre's report said: "Will require application of W2".

Mr Callaghan said it could be interpreted that engineers were not working under the W3 strategy on that Saturday afternoon, as the engineers said.

Mr Ayre rejected the assertion.

"Consciously I'm not sure I was fully aware at that time whether I was in strategy W3," he said.

But he said the objective of W3 was being achieved.

The hearing is continuing.

Meanwhile, law firm Maurice Blackburn yesterday confirmed it was investigating a class action.

"The new evidence that has recently come to light at the Floods Commission raises serious questions about the conduct of the operators of the Wivenhoe dam," Maurice Blackburn Principal Damian Scattini said. "It is important we get to the truth of the matter so that the thousands of people who have suffered property loss and damage, and loss of business revenue and profits, get some answers and can claim compensation if the conduct of the dam operators led directly to unnecessary flooding."