Aboriginal representative for Ranger uranium mine inquiry

The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) has welcomed the formation of a task force to investigate the recent tank collapse at Ranger uranium mine. Federal Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane and Northern Territory Mines Minister Willem Westra Van Holthe announced the investigation today noting that a representative of the Mirarr Traditional Owners of the mine site will be invited to join.

GAC Chief Executive Officer Justin O’Brien said “We welcome the Government’s proactive closure of operations at Ranger and believe that mining should remain suspended until the completion of this investigation and the subsequent implementation of all recommendations.”

The investigation has been established to:
i) identify the immediate cause of the incident;
ii) examine the integrity of broader processing operations;
iii) identify any gaps in operating procedures or maintenance practices;
iv) undertake a comprehensive examination of corporate governance arrangements; and,
v) provide recommendations to the Commonwealth Minister for Industry and the Northern Territory Minister for Mines and Energy.

Mr O’Brien continued: “This inquiry must be given full access to ensure the condition of infrastructure and the rigour of procedures at this aging mine are fully scrutinised. We look forward to assisting with the appointment of an independent investigator.”

“We are hopeful that this process will set a strong precedent for government listening to and including aboriginal landholders in decisions about the management of their land” Justin O’Brien concluded.

–

Kakadu area – safety fears of Mirrar people

Traditional owners in Kakadu National Park still fear for their safety and the health of their country after a technical team visited the Ranger Uranium mine today, following a series of pollution spills and safety breaches.

 The Mirarr Traditional Owners – who do not feel safe to enter the mine area following Saturday’s tank collapse – sent a technical officer from the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) to visit the site on their behalf this morning.

GAC acting Chief Executive Officer David Vadiveloo said “ERA is telling the public that the area is safe but our officer reports that they are still conducting radiation testing in the area and there is still toxic slurry lying exposed, outside the containment area.”

“The Mirarr are worried sick about the safety of people, the land and the future of this World Heritage park – meanwhile ERA is worrying about getting roads cleared and getting this aging and incident-riddled mine-site, back to processing without an independent assessment being done” Vadiveloo said.

“There has been no independent testing so we are all left relying on the mining company’s testing to confirm the area is safe. We want a presence on the taskforce and an independent audit of plant and facility” said Vadiveloo.

A taskforce involving government regulators, departments and the miner has been appointed to investigate the recent radiological accidents but GAC was not invited to participate.

GAC has written to the Federal Minister for Industry, Ian MacFarlane welcoming the current halt to processing at Ranger and to request a seat on the taskforce.

Mirarr Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula will make a statement in coming days.

Radiation spill in Northern Territory’s “sickness country”

Kakadu uranium leak: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’ SMH,December 14, 2013  Tim Elliott To the Jawoyn people, of southern Kakadu, it’s known as buladjang, or ”sickness country”, pockets of land not fit for regular habitation.

It was here, they believed, that the creation ancestor Bula ended his travels and left his spirit underground. Only recently have scientists found a correlation between mineral deposits such as uranium and the location of major Bula sites.

Ranger uranium mine, north of the Jawoyn, unleashed its own kind of sickness last Saturday when a leach tank burst, spilling 1 million litres of highly acidic uranium slurry that engulfed the mine and breached containment lines. The mine’s operator, Energy Resources Australia, said no one was hurt, and that the spill had no effect on the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, which surrounds the site.

But photos obtained by Fairfax Media for the first time show the extent of the damage. ”I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Melanie Impey, environmental officer for the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the local Mirarr people. ”The tank was just a mangled mass of metal.”…..

Ranger has experienced more than 200 spills, leaks and breaches since opening in 1979. In 2002, ERA detected high uranium levels downstream from Ranger but failed to inform the traditional owners for five weeks. In 2004, 28 Ranger workers were found to have drank and showered in water containing 400 times the legal limit of uranium. Later, an excavator covered in radioactive mud was taken to the town of Jabiru for cleaning, contaminating a mechanic and his children.

Ranger’s chief regulator is the Northern Territory government, which takes advice from the Supervising Scientists Division, a Commonwealth agency that oversees environmental standards within Kakadu. ERA says its record is good, pointing out the SSD has always given the mine a clean bill of health …. http://www.smh.com.au/national/kakadu-uranium-leak-ive-never-seen-anything-like-it-20131213-2zcy5.html#ixzz2nU8DGzF

ACF wants wider inquiry into Ranger mine safety

13 Dec 13, ACF has called for a widening of the scope of the planned review into safety at Energy Resources of Australia’s Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu following last weekend’s equipment failure and spill of a million litres of highly acidic uranium slurry.

 Today the federal and NT Mines Ministers have outlined the terms of reference for a joint investigation but many questions remain unclear, including:

·         Details on the ‘independent expert’ who has the key role to ‘review the broader integrity of the processing plant’

• ·         How stakeholders including environmental NGO’s and trade unions will engage with this process and whether there will be a public hearing and submission process
• ·         Whether operations at Ranger mine will remain halted pending the outcome plant integrity assessment
• ·         How the adequacy of the remediation and clean up works and related OHS response will be assessed
• ·         The extent of dependence of company supplied – as opposed to independently obtained – data and monitoring results

“This review plan still puts the existing regulatory agencies in the driving seat, despite the fact that they have been asleep at the wheel for far too long,” said ACF campaigner  Dave Sweeney.

“The plan is a step towards lifting the curtain of complacency that has characterised operations at Ranger, but it is not enough. It is heavy on company data and light on community input.

Speaking on ABC radio on Tuesday federal Minister Ian Macfarlane stated: ‘what we need to do is just have a process where the facts can be laid on the table’. ACF agrees. It’s called an independent public inquiry”.

ACF has welcomed fact that the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, representing the Mirarr Traditional Owners, will be invited to join the review – this should clearly be standard practise.

In a statement issued yesterday GAC described that the “Mirarr are worried sick about the safety of people, the land and the future of this World Heritage park – meanwhile ERA is worrying about getting roads cleared and getting this aging and incident-riddled mine site back to processing”.

The Mirarr have called for an independent audit of the plant and facility – a call echoed by national and NT environment, Indigenous and public health groups and affected trade unions.

Following Fukushima – a continuing nuclear crisis directly fuelled by Australian uranium – the UN Secretary General asked Australia to conduct an in-depth assessment of the impact of uranium mining on local communities and ecosystems.

The most recent independent assessment of the Australian uranium industry – a Senate inquiry in 2003 – found the sector characterised by underperformance and non-compliance, an absence of reliable data to measure contamination or its impact on the environment and an operational culture focussed on short term considerations.

“Minister Macfarlane has the ability and responsibility to do better than one more yellowcake whitewash,” said Dave Sweeney.

 

“A full and open review of the suite of impacts from the Ranger operation and a genuine cost-benefit analysis of Australia’s troubled and troubling uranium trade is long overdue”.

Northern Territory govt body to monitor regulator’s response to Ranger radioactive spill

EDONT to watch regulator response with interest in wake of Ranger Uranium Mine incident. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE NT, DECEMBER 11, 2013 “………What can the Commonwealth and Territory Government do to respond to the spill?

Clearly an incident of this nature demands a strong response from regulators of the mine.   Currently the Office of the Supervising Scientist and the Northern Territory Government are investigating the spill.

Commonwealth –

Under the AEA the Commonwealth Minister has the power to impose an indefinite suspension of operations at Ranger if ERA refuses or fails to comply with or observe a condition or restriction provided in its Authority.  It is unclear whether the Commonwealth Minister has given a direction under the AEA or whether he has directed ERA to cease operations pending investigation and ERA have voluntarily complied.

It is interesting to note that while ERA have stated that the spill was contained on site, Ranger Environmental Requirement 1.2 requires that:

the company must ensure that operations at Ranger do not result in environmental impacts within the Ranger Project Area which are not as low as reasonably achievable, during mining excavation, mineral processing, and subsequently during and after rehabilitation.

Additionally, Environmental Requirement 12 requires the use of Best Practicable Technology (BPT) at Ranger.   While it is contemplated that equipment on site may be able to fulfill its serviceable life, in light of this weekends events ERA appears to be failing in its duty to adequately review and update its equipment in line with Environmental Requirement 12.

Given that preliminary reports have suggested that the tank was over 20 years old, EDO NT would suggest that a full scale review of the mines equipment to ensure that there are no further equipment failures at the mine and compliance with the BPT requirement of ERA’s Ranger Authority is achieved.

Under the Atomic Energy Act it is an offence for a person to fail to comply with a condition of their authorisation.  The maximum penalty for this offence, in the case of a body corporate like ERA, is $10,000.

Northern Territory –

The Northern Territory Government’s powers to regulate Ranger arise from the provisions of the MMA, which as stated above provides for the General Authorisation for Ranger, the Schedule to which set out the way mining operations are undertaken and the requirements for environmental protection.

In the event that the NT Government believes ERA has contravened an environmental obligation under the MMA and caused environmental harm, it is able to commence proceedings under the MMA.

The MMA provides three tiers of offences, namely for conduct causing:

• serious environmental harm (level 1 and 2);
• material environmental harm (level 1 and 2); or
• Environmental nuisance.

The penalties for the various tiers (and levels) range from about $55,000 for a body corporate who causes environmental nuisance to over $2.75 million for  a body corporate that causes serious environmental harm.

The way forward

The time for taking a strong legal stance against lack luster performance at Ranger would appear to have come.  The Northern Territory Government must send a message to ERA, and other mine operators within the Territory, that the Territory community will accept nothing less than strict compliance with the laws put in place to protect the environment.

http://edont.org.au/edont-watch-regulator-response-interest-wake-ranger-uranium-incident/

Scrutiny on Ranger uranium mine’ safety

NT uranium mine suspended after radioactive leak SMH, 10 Dec 13,The federal government has suspended operations at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory, after a major leak of acid and radioactive slurry at the weekend.

The mine’s operator, Energy Resources of Australia, insists there has been no environmental impact from the million-litre spill, but this view is contested by local indigenous people and environment groups…….

On Friday, workers detected a hole in leach tank one within the mine’s processing area, which has a capacity of about 1.5 million litres.  The next day, the tank split, pouring out a slurry of mud, water, ore and sulphuric acid…….

The NT Environment Centre said it did not believe ERA when the company said there had been no environmental impacts.

”It’s clear there’s contaminated water from the burst tank on soil,” director Stuart Blanch said.

There have been more than 200 safety breaches and incidents over the past 30 years at the site, according to the centre, which says the slurry spill overflowed levee banks designed to contain it and got into the mine’s stormwater drain system.

The regional organiser of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Bryan Wilkins, said that during the construction and installation of the leaking tank, in 1993 or 1994, the welding was not properly tested. ”I know it wasn’t – I was there,” he said.

An investigation to determine what caused the tank to give way was being commissioned, ERA chief executive Andrea Sutton said……. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/nt-uranium-mine-suspended-after-radioactive-leak-20131209-2z1un.html#ixzz2n5vZT1Pe

 

Greens Senator raises awkward questions about Ranger uranium minE

Australian Greens spokesperson on nuclear issues, Senator Scott Ludlam. 9 December 2013. Today in senate question time, Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam asked the Environment Minister’s representative about the massive spill of 1.4 million litres of radioactive acid at the Ranger Uranium Mine.

In response to the Government’s feeble and evasive answers, Senator Ludlam has submitted a detailed log of questions to Commonwealth environmental regulators and has called for the closure of the mine.

“The Minister representing the Environment Minister played down the events over the weekend and the on-going leakage and contamination problems at the Ranger mine.

“In fact this mine has an atrocious track record with more than 150 spills, leaks and license breaches since it opened in 1981. Just a few weeks ago a contaminated vehicle was somehow allowed out of the site.  In 2004 workers drank and showered in water laced with uranium. I revealed through Senate Estimates that water with uranium concentrations 5400 times background and a cocktail of other radionuclides are seeping from beneath the tailings dam at Ranger.

“This mine must halt operations until an independent assessment can be completed.  In addition, there should be there should be no handing over of federal powers to assess and approve uranium mining projects to state or Territory governments.

“ERA and its hapless regulators must now bring forward plans for the orderly closure of this mine, and entertain no further proposals for extending the life of this clapped out mine.”

Senator Ludlam’s Question Without Notice in Question Time today:http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/questions-without-notice/questions-asked-about-1-million-litres-radioactive-acid-spilled-ran

Senator Ludlam’s Question on Notice to the Environment Minister:http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/questions-notice/detailed-questions-nuclear-disaster-ranger-uranium-mine

Aboriginal doubts about future of Northern Territory uranium mine

Major uranium leak endangers Kakadu – but played down Indymedia Australia, 9 Dec 13;Gerry Georgatos – courtesy of The Stringer –http://thestringer.com.au/ – A million litres of radioactive slurry has contaminated Kakadu National Park from a burst tank at Ranger uranium mine. It is a significant toxic accident but it has surprisingly generated relatively minimal news coverage. It took the local Traditional Owners to break the news to Australia.

Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) CEO, Justin O’Brien, said the Ranger mine and its surrounds may be closed for at least two months in order to contain the leak. The GAC represent the native title interests of the Mirarr peoples.

Mirarr Traditional Owners are disturbed by the contamination because it is the worst one yet. They have described it as the biggest “nuclear disaster in Australia ever.”

Rio Tinto owned Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) is backing another project at the site, Ranger 3 Deeps but this latest contamination breach is a setback. Energy Resources Australia had agreed to proceed only with the project if it had the consent of the Mirrar peoples. But Mr O’Brien told AAP, “Day by day, litre by litre, incident by incident, they’re losing whatever trust Traditional Owners have in them.” In light of the accident, Mr O’Brien said at this time as far as the Traditional Owners are concerned, the Ranger 3 Deeps project “is now off the table.”

The chairperson of the Aboriginal Elders led Western Australian Nuclear Free Alliance (WANFA) and co-chair of the Australian Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Kado Muir said that Australia is yet to learn from the Fukishima disaster. “The only safe place for uranium is to leave it in the ground. It has never been safe for anyone when we have mined it.”…….

This disaster just reinforces the fear in Aboriginal communities that there really is no second chance with uranium mining, and when the companies and Government fail in their duties to the environment, it is us, the Traditional Owners and the Australian people who are left holding the toxic legacy. We need a full public inquiry into the opening of new uranium mines across Australia and the people need to be assured that existing operators will clean up their act,” said Mr Muir……

According to South Australia’s Arabunna Elder, Kevin Buzzacott, the protest movement is growing and he said “we are standing in the way.” Mr Buzzacott is the president of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance and for decades he has campaigned against the uranium mining expansion at Olympic Dam on his Country. “They are drying up our Country, the water is going, it is impacting the environment, and one major disaster would render our Country useless. Kakadu should send shivers up the spines of all Australians but I do not understand why it has not made the television news. What has occurred in Kakadu is scary.”…….

Ranger mine is one of only three mines in the world to produce in excess of 110,000 tonnes of uranium oxide. Following the completion of mining in the operating Pit 3 at Ranger in 2012, ERA began the transition from open cut mining to underground exploration of the Ranger 3 Deeps mineral resource.

In 2010, millions of litres of radioactive water from the Ranger uranium mine flowed into Kakadu’s wetlands. The Traditional Owners opposed then plans for a huge expansion of the 30 year old mine by ERA. At the time, the ERA attempted to downplay a spike in contaminated water flowing from the Ranger to Kakadu’s Magela Creek between April 9 to 11. 40 Aboriginal people lived downstream from the site where a measure probe recorded up to five times the warning level of electrical conductivity – including uranium, sulphate and radium contaminants.

“As more of our people understand the death knell dangers of uranium mining we will then come together in greater numbers and we will close down Ranger and Olympic Dam,” said Mr Buzzacott.http://indymedia.org.au/2013/12/09/major-uranium-leak-endangers-kakadu-but-played-down

 

Ranger uranium mine’s future under a cloud

Investigation as radioactive leak leaves Ranger uranium mine under a cloud SMH, Lucy Battersby and Peter Ker December 9, 2013 The future of Australia’s oldest uranium mine is under renewed scrutiny, after a tank holding more than a million litres of radioactive slurry burst at the weekend, sparking a federal investigation.

The accident prompted traditional land owners to describe the Ranger uranium mine as a ”hillbilly operation” with too little regulation. The mine has a history of safety breaches and unions have raised concerns about maintenance standards at the 33-year-old operation……

The Rio Tinto subsidiary in charge of the mine – Energy Resources of Australia – insisted the cocktail of radioactive uranium and industrial acids had not leaked into the neighbouring Kakadu park, but Environment Minister Greg Hunt declared the incident ”unacceptable” and called for an investigation…….

The Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Centre NT called for an immediate halt and no further expansion at Ranger. A protest at ERA’s Darwin offices was planned for Monday morning.

Uranium supplies at Ranger mine have nearly been exhausted, and ERA has been counting on a new underground expansion to keep the mine going. But it must get approval from the traditional owners of the area, the Mirarr people, for the expansion. The chief executive of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Mirarr, said people no longer felt safe living near Ranger mine.

”This is  nothing but a hillbilly operation, run by a hillbilly miner with hillbilly regulators,” Justin O’Brien said. ”Based on the woefully inadequate government response to the previous incident, we have no confidence that this will be taken seriously enough.”…..

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s Northern Territory organiser, Bryan Wilkins, called for a full independent inquiry into ERA’s maintenance program at the mine site.

”Obviously there has been a failure in their maintenance program and that has put the workers at that mine site at risk,” Mr Wilkins said.

People well acquainted with Ranger said the incident did not reflect well on maintenance standards at the mine, which should have ensured that the acids in the tank were not able to cause such significant amounts of corrosion to cause a leak. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/investigation-as-radioactive-leak-leaves-ranger-uranium-mine-under-a-cloud-20131208-2yzeo.html

Greens call to shut down Ranger mine permanently

Greens call for end of Ranger uranium mine operations after slurry spill ABC News 8 Dec 13 The Greens are calling for a permanent end to operations at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory after a radioactive spill at the site yesterday morning.

A tank containing up to a million litres of uranium ore and acid split, damaging the crane that was trying to repair it and surrounding infrastructure at the mine near Kakadu National Park…..

West Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the mine should now be shut down for good.

“The company thinks that the way to save operations at Ranger is to go underground through the 3 Deeps projects,” he said.

“As far as the Greens are concerned the company should be as good as its word and close that facility when its lease runs out.

“I think this latest disaster doesn’t improve anyone’s confidence that the mine is capable of running for another 10 or 15 years.”

Senator Ludlam says there are a number of lessons to be learned from the incident, and has called for the Federal Government to reconsider giving more approval power over uranium mines to state and territory governments.

“I think some short-term lessons include the company disclosing how many other of these leach tanks there are, and whether they’re in the same condition as the one that burst,” he said.

“But in the longer term, this is a very strong sign for Environment Minister Greg Hunt that under no circumstances should he let regulation of the uranium sector go back to the states and territories.”….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-08/greens-call-for-end-of-ranger-uranium-mine-operations/5142734