Members of the Wiradjuri community say a renewable energy company must be held to account for the "inexcusable" destruction of an Aboriginal rock shelter it promised to protect.ACEREZ has apologised for demolishing the site beyond repair while its workers cleared land near Mudgee to build power lines for the NSW Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).Wiradjuri, Tubba-Gah and Gamilaraay man Thomas Dahlstrom worked on the larger REZ site, conducting Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments.Thomas Dahlstrom says a cultural management plan was put out to protect the site. (Supplied: Thomas Dahlstrom)He said he was devastated to learn the company knew about the shelter but destroyed it anyway."This is one of the hardest parts to digest. When you know better, there's absolutely no excuse," Mr Dahlstrom said."A cultural management plan was put out to prevent disasters such as this."Mr Dahlstrom said he discussed the cultural sites with the company several times, and stressed the need to block them off and barricade them from construction work."We were told they wouldn't be harmed," he said.Shelter for women and childrenMr Dahlstrom said the shelter would likely have been a refuge for a mother with children while they were gathering food.He described the east-facing cave mouth as protecting those inside from the westerly winds."If they were caught in rain or couldn't get back to camp, it's a handy little cave," he said.Thomas Dahlstrom says the cave would likely have fit a woman and two children while they were gathering food. (Supplied: NSW EnergyCo)The Aboriginal Site Recording Form that logged the rock shelter for the project's planning documents found that it could have had potential archaeological deposits at a depth of at least 50 centimetres in the soil."If it had been tested, we'd have more answers of what conclusively would've been there," Mr Dahlstrom said.Federal bid to protect the areaThe destruction of the shelter pushed Mr Dahlstrom to apply for federal protection over the site after seeking advice from his family and community.He lodged a section 9 emergency protection order application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.He also submitted a longer-term section 10 bid simultaneously.A spokesperson for the federal environment department confirmed it was assessing the requests.Thomas Dahlstrom says he felt compelled to apply for the protection orders after seeking advice from his family and Wiradjuri community. (Supplied: Thomas Dahlstrom)"I hope they accept the application and work with Wiradjuri to prevent any further damage across the whole footprint of the project," Mr Dahlstrom said.Call for compensationA Wiradjuri Elder from the Lithgow area, Aunty Sharon Riley, is a descendent from the Talbragar Reserve where the shelter was located.She questioned what went "terribly wrong" in the process that allowed a mapped cultural site to be demolished. Aunty Sharon Riley says ACEREZ needs to consider compensating the community for destroying the shelter. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)"You would've thought after previous things that went on in Western Australia [Juukan Gorge] that lessons would've been learnt and the values would've been respected a hell of a lot more," she said."To let us know and to just say sorry is really not good enough."Ms Riley said the company should take further action."What about thinking about compensation because that's more trauma to Aboriginal people today," she said."It's thousands and thousands of years of knowledge and our history for this part of Wiradjuri country, and once they're destroyed they're gone forever."The shelter had a potential archaeological deposit of at least 50cm in the soil floor. (Supplied: NSW EnergyCo)The chief executive of ACEREZ, Steve Masters, told ABC 702 Radio on Tuesday that he was "bitterly disappointed" by the incident.He said there had not yet been any discussion about compensation for the shelter's destruction."We will sit down with the traditional owners and be guided by their feedback," Mr Masters said.He said no-one had been sacked over the incident, but it would be "considered" during the company's review.In a press conference on Tuesday, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said "appropriate penalties" for the company would be looked at once the state's own investigation concluded.