‘Regrettable’: Ranger Mine uranium-contaminated waste trucked to Darwin suburb

Energy Resources Australia is investigating how Ranger Mine toxic waste came to be transported through the Kakadu National Park and left on a truck in a Darwin suburb.

RADIOACTIVE waste has been transported through Kakadu National Park and left on a truck in Winnellie.

In June an excavator at Ranger Mine used to dig uranium tailings, was removed from the site with 50kg of mixed material still inside the vehicle.

The removal of any toxic waste is a major breach of Energy Resources Australia’s Ranger Mine rehabilitation plan as it poses a deadly contamination risk to people and the environment.

According to Energy Resources Australia the compacted waste was in a steel encased void of an excavator and not detected by radiation screening before leaving the site.

“Our investigations are ongoing, in consultation with stakeholders and regulators who have been briefed on the matter,” an ERA spokesperson said.

“Due to its low levels of radiation and small scale, it presented no potential for dispersal or exposure to the community.

A Jabiru sits on top of rock pile at the Ranger uranium mine. in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

ERA who are 86 per cent owned by Rio Tinto said the material was immediately and safely returned to Ranger Mine.

The excavator was transported to Winnellie, 257km from the site, for maintenance when the waste was discovered by a mechanic dissembling the vehicle.

Supervising Scientist Keith Taylor said the breach was “regrettable” but he was confident there was no risk posed to people or the environment.

“There have been other incidents of this nature, most notably the 2004 prosecution which is of public record,” he said.

“There have been others as well but that is the most notable.”

In 2004 the Northern Territory Government launched prosecution against Ranger mine after they spilled uranium contaminated water into a creek flowing into the Kakadu National Park.

Mr Taylor said scientists and ERA were working together to review the ‘clearance processes,’ which includes a radiation screening.

Mirarr Traditional Owners, The Environment Centre and the NLC were made aware of the incident on June 3.

Enivronment Centre chief executive Dr Kirsty Howey said the incident constituted a very serious breach.

”Notwithstanding the assertions that there hasn’t been any particular harm caused in this specific case, its potentially a very significant breach because one of the key conditions of rehabilitation is of course that absolutely no radioactive or contaminated material should leave that site,” she said.

“It really raises questions about the integrity and the controls, including safety controls around the rehabilitation operation, and it’s extremely concerning that any material at all has been able to leave the site.”

Dr Howey said one of the major concerns for this project is the lag between when an incident occurs and when it is publicly reported, despite public reporting.

“e find out about these incidents well after they’ve occurred, and we just have to accept the assertions that everything has been done appropriately and that it poses no risk to human or environmental health,” she said.

“It raises some systemic issues here about the way in which the rehabilitation is occurring.”

In February, ERA announced the rehabilitation plan for Ranger Mine had blown out to an estimated $1.2bn.

It left the company scrambling for cash and relying heavily on its major shareholder Rio Tinto.