Environment Centre NT slams McArthur River Mine report
A leading NT environmental organisation claims the latest independent monitor report for McArthur River Mine fails to address a number of risks.
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THE NT’s peak community sector environment organisation claims the latest independent monitor report for McArthur River Mine, released Monday, fails to address a significant number of environmental risks identified in previous assessments by the former independent monitor.
Environment Centre NT ECNT co-director Kirsty Howey claimed the independent monitor was failing to ensure oversight of the mine.
“The latest Independent Monitor report for McArthur River Mine is nothing short of bewildering,” she said.
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“It does not address a significant number of environmental risks identified by the previous independent monitor.
“There’s no way these problems have vanished into thin air.”
One of Ms Howley’s concerns was the risk of the river forming a new channel, undermining the integrity of the mine’s levee wall.
“There is no clear indication in the latest independent monitor report of what the mine is doing to prevent this risk,” she said.
Ms Howley also questioned whether the new report was as thorough as those completed by the previous independent monitor.
“It seems that it has been reduced to a tick and flick exercise, where the monitor just reports about whether the mine has complied with conditions imposed by the regulator, rather than undertaking genuine environmental oversight as required by the conditions imposed by the government for the independent monitor,” she said.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, which oversees the Mining Management Act, disputed the ECNT’s claims, and defended its latest report, which found “overall high level of regulatory compliance”.
“Reports regarding the implementation of control measures and subsequent results of monitoring have been provided to the department,” a spokesman said.
“The findings of the report submitted to the department indicates that the control measures are effective in reducing the avulsion risk from catastrophic breaches.
“In the event the situation changed and the independent monitor determined that a catastrophic risk becomes evident, the independent monitor is required to report this to the department immediately as a matter of urgency.”
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