WA environment watchdog to scrutinise Alcoa’s jarrah forest mining

Alcoa’s mining of bauxite in WA’s south-west will be subject to the most detailed review possible by the state’s independent environment watchdog.

The US aluminium specialist endured a barrage of bad publicity in its 60th year in WA, including revelations by this masthead that the state government was concerned its clearing could harm Perth’s water supply; that it piped water contaminated with toxic firefighting chemical PFAS over a Water Corporation dam without permission, and it was yet to fully rehabilitate a single hectare of jarrah forest.

Alcoa has cleared 280 square kilometres of jarrah forest in WA.Credit: Anon.

The WA Environmental Protection Authority announced on Monday that Alcoa’s mining plans to 2027 will be subject to a public environmental review, after it accepted a referral by environmental group WA Forest Alliance.

EPA chair Professor Matthew Tonts said the authority would consider potential impacts on vegetation, wildlife, water catchments from clearing, climate change from carbon pollution, and social surroundings from the noise, dust and clearing.

“These proposals involve the clearing of large areas of native vegetation, so there will be impacts to a range of environmental values including biodiversity and water resources,” Tonts said.

“There is also the potential for significant cumulative impacts to the northern jarrah forest.”

As well as Alcoa’s mining, South32 mines bauxite in the forest and US-based Newmont owns Australia’s largest gold mine at Boddington.

Even without mining, the forest that extends from inland of Perth to Collie is in trouble. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in 2022 the ecosystem was at risk of collapse due to hotter, drier conditions with more bushfires.

A spokeswoman for Alcoa said the company noted the decision and would engage with the EPA to understand the scope and process of the assessment.

In its submission to the EPA’s decision to assess the mining plans, the company said it “did not accept the validity of the referrals” from the WA Forest Alliance.

When asked if this was still the case, Alcoa declined to comment.

The WA Forest Alliance wanted the EPA to review two Alcoa five year mine plans for 2022-2026 and 2023-2027.

However, by law the EPA cannot consider something twice, so many areas to be mined under the two plans will be excluded from the new assessment as they have been looked at by the watchdog in the past.

Tonts noted the state government’s move last week to ensure Alcoa could keep mining while it conducts its assessment.

Normally, a proponent cannot work on a project until the EPA finishes its assessment- a logical prohibition for a new project but a catastrophic one for an existing operation.

The government made a declaration under section 6 of the Environmental Protection Act to exempt Alcoa from this prohibition while also restricting aspects of its mining that most threaten Perth’s water supply and requiring the miner to make public more details of its operation.

“I don’t consider that this particular legislative exemption will prevent the EPA from rigorously undertaking its assessment,” Tonts said.

The section 6 conditions will allow Alcoa to clear 800 hectares of forest a year.

WA Forest Alliance campaign director Jess Beckerling said the Cook government had handed Alcoa a free pass.

“We will lose up to 2000 hectares of highly biodiverse and irreplaceable jarrah forests while the EPA is assessing whether or not that should even be allowed to occur,” she said.

Beckerling said situation was deeply problematic as the EPA will need information from Alcoa to complete the assessment, and meanwhile the company can keep mining.

As well as the assessment of Alcoa’s immediate mining plans announced on Monday the EPA is also reviewing the miner’s longer-term plan to expand its northern Huntly mine that feeds its Pinjarra and Kwinana refineries.

The process started in 2020 when the US miner chose to refer its plans to the EPA. Alcoa was to issue its environmental review document that forms the basis of the assessment this year, but it has now slipped to 2024, when the public will have 10 weeks to digest it and provide comments.

Alcoa’s Australian operations are 40 per cent owned by ASX-listed Alumina Limited.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.