Is It OK to mine?

You decide. 

The next blog is a poem I felt inspired to write.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Tedi_environmental_disaster

The Ok Tedi Mine operates to extract copper-gold porphyry from an open pit mine in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The Ok Tedi environmental disaster associated with it, due to the annual discharge of millions of tons of mining waste, has harmed the environment and livelihood of 50,000 people who live on or near the Ok Tedi River.

This mining pollution, due to the collapse of the Ok Tedi tailings dam system and the lack of a proper waste retention facility, has been the subject of class action litigation, naming Ok Tedi Mining Limited and BHP Billiton and brought by local landowners. Villagers downstream from Ok Tedi in the Fly River system in the Middle Fly District and the southern and central areas of the North Fly District, in particular, believe that the effect on their livelihood from this disaster far outweighs the benefits they have received from the mine’s presence in their area.

Environmental impact

In 1999, BHP’s CEO, Paul Anderson said that the Ok Tedi Mine was “the mine is not compatible with our environmental values and the company should never have become involved.”^[1]

The mine operators discharge 80 million tons of tailings, overburden and mine-induced erosion into the river system each year.^[2]

Following heavy rainfall, mine tailings are swept into the surrounding rain forest, swamps and creeks, and have left behind 30 square kilometers of dead forest. Thick gray sludge from the mine is visible throughout the Fly River system, although its effects downriver are not as severe.^[3] Chemicals from the tailings killed or contaminated fish, although they are still eaten by the people of the surrounding villages. However, fish counts decrease closer to the mine. The massive amount of mine-derived waste dumped into the river exceeded its carrying capacity. This dumping resulted in the river bed being raised 10 m, causing a relatively deep and slow river to become shallower and develop rapids, thereby disrupting indigenous transportation routes.^[4] Flooding, caused by the raised riverbed, left a thick layer of contaminated mud on the flood plain among plantations of taro, bananas and sago palm that are the staples of the local diet. About 1300 square kilometers were damaged in this way. The concentration of copper in the water is about 30 times above the standard level, but it is below the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.^[5]

The original plans included an Environmental Impact Statement that required a tailings dam be built. This would allow heavy metals and solid particles to settle, before releasing the clean ‘high-water’ into the river system where remaining contaminants would be diluted. In 1984 an earthquake caused the half built dam to collapse. The company continued operations without the dam, initially because BHP argued that it would be too expensive to rebuild it. Subsequently, the PNG government decided a dam wasn’t necessary, in the wake of the closure of the Panguna mine.^{[citation needed]}

Most of Papua New Guinea’s land is held under a system of native title, with ownership divided amongst many small clans, while the central government retains control over how resources that lie under the ground are used. The 2000 members of the clan that held ownership of the land on which the mine would be built were included in the formal negotiations. They received money, jobs, vocational training, and infrastructure improvements.^{[citation needed]}

Also, as a consequence of geotechnical problems, there are no waste retention facilities on the premises. This allowed all ore processing residues, waste rock and overburden to be discharged into the Ok Tedi River.^[6]

Aftermath

In the 1990s the communities of the lower Fly Region, including the Yonggom people,^[7] sued BHP and received US$28.6 million in an out-of-court settlement, which was the culmination of an enormous public-relations campaign against the company by environmental groups. As part of the settlement a (limited) dredging operation was put in place and efforts were made to rehabilitate the site around the mine. However the mine is still in operation and waste continues to flow into the river system. BHP was granted legal indemnity from future mine related damages.

In January 2007 PNG lawyer Camillus Narokobi lodged a lawsuit on behalf of 3,000 villagers known as the Ninggerum people who live near the Birim River, a tributary of the Ok Tedi River. He is seeking US$4 billion in damages.^[8]

The Ok Tedi Mine is scheduled to close in 2013.^[9] Until that time two thirds of the profits go into a long-term fund to enable the mine to continue to contribute to the PNG economy for up to half a century after it closes. The balance is allocated to current development programs in the local area (Western Province) and PNG more generally. Experts have predicted that it will take 300 years to clean up the toxic contamination.^[8]

According to the owners of the Ok Tedi Mine, there have also been many positive social effects that have come from the mine. Because of all the new money pouring into the economy, the quality of the health care, schools and roads has greatly improved. This has also caused the average life expectancy for the indigenous people to increase.^[2]

References

1. ^ Burton, Bob (2006-09-17). “BHP admits Ok Tedi mine is environmental disaster”. Asia Times Online.
2. ^ ^{a b} “Key Statistics”. Ok Tedi Mining. Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
3. ^ Kirsch, Stuart (Fall, 1996). “Cleaning up Ok Tedi: Settlement Favors Yonggom People”. Journal of the International Institute. Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
4. ^ Hettler, J.; Irion, G., Lehmann, B. (1997). “Environmental impact of mining waste disposal on a tropical lowland river system: a case study on the Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea”. Mineralium Deposita.
5. ^ Marychurch, Judith; Natalie Stoianoff (4 – 7 July 2006). “Blurring the Lines of Environmental Responsibility: How Corporate and Public Governance was Circumvented in the Ok Tedi Mining Limited Disaster” (pdf). Australasian Law Teachers Association – Refereed Conference Papers. Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
6. ^ Hettler, J.; Irion, G., Lehmann, B. (1997). “Environmental impact of mining waste disposal on a tropical lowland river system: a case study on the Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea”. Mineralium Deposita.
7. ^ Kirsch, Stuart (2006-07). Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea. Stanford University Press;. pp. pp272. ISBN 0-8047-5342-3.
8. ^ ^{a b} Australian Associated Press (January 20, 2007). “Villagers sue BHP Billiton for $5bn”. The Age (Fairfax). Retrieved 2007-02-04.
9. ^ “Mine Closure Planning”. OK Tedi Mining Limited. Retrieved 16 February 2012.