Fears grow over Clive Palmer mine’s toxic sludge as dams fill

CLIVE Palmer could be held liable if toxic sludge from tailing dams at his nickel refinery spills into the Great Barrier Reef.

CLIVE Palmer is at immediate risk of being held liable for toxic sludge from tailing dams at his nickel refinery spilling into wetlands and the waters of the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland.

Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell told The Australian last night that he was very concerned as the resources tycoon’s tailings dams were now “full” and set to overtop after heavy rain from tropical cyclone Ita.

He said the risk was at a critical level — the most serious yet — and the refinery, which employs more than 700 people, faced immediate production bans unless dam levels were reduced.

Senior environmental officers are going to the site at Yabulu, near Townsville, early today to inspect the dams and question staff. Mr Powell said he was concerned about the risk of more significant rainfall after Ita-related dumps of about 300mm in 24 hours.

“An overtopping of those tailings dams will introduce a range of contaminants into the water surrounding Townsville, the ocean, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,’’ he said. “I’m very concerned about it.

“I now have advice that the dams are at full capacity and that with the wind and wave action, they may already be overtopping.

“We are advised that they are using pumps on site and other ponds to try to shift the water around to lessen the risks.

“We have had a wet season coming in Queensland for 12 months. We have been telling him for more than 12 months now that he has to manage the risks with those dams. But Mr Palmer has counted on sunny days, instead of preparing for wet ones. He had assured us that he had things in hand, but clearly he has not and there will be ramifications.”

The refinery’s nickel and cobalt processes produce hundreds of tonnes of waste with high levels of ammonia and metals.

According to a federal government report obtained under Freedom of Information, the tailings dams held the equivalent of 2000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of “hazardous waste”, while the nitrogen concentration “is more than 150 times the maximum concentration for sewage discharge allowed in the marine park”.

One of the documents describes the threat of a discharge from the ponds to the ecosystem of Halifax Bay in the World Heritage Area as “similar to the daily discharge of treated sewage from a city of 7 million people”.

Mr Palmer, the leader of the Palmer United Party, has failed to fund structural works to increase the capacity of the tailings dams. In radio interviews last week, prior to Cyclone Ita’s arrival, Mr Palmer accused News Corp Australia and The Australian of “beating up” false stories about the tailings dams.

Two years ago he warned that there was an 8 per cent risk the ponds would collapse and cancer-causing tailings would spill into Townsville waterways. “If we close it down and leave the dams there, they’re going to burst and children are going to die,” he said.