The Cook government plans a new environmental approval regime to keep besieged bauxite miner Alcoa operating but has promised standards will not be lowered.
The board of US aluminium giant Alcoa which is battling to obtain vital mining approvals in WA replaced chief executive Roy Harvey on Sunday.
Roger Cook relayed concerns about the threats the company’s mining operations posed to drinking water supplies and forests in the Darling Scarp
WA’s environmental watchdog has invited public comment on whether it should undertake a detailed independent review of Alcoa’s mining in WA’s jarrah forests.
The value of US miner Alcoa dropped $650 million after Wall Street was told there was “no fixed timetable” for gaining access to new areas of jarrah forest to mine.
The Melbourne-based company that owns 40 per cent of Alcoa’s WA operation has defended its mining against claims it threatens Perth’s water supply and the jarrah forest.
US bauxite miner Alcoa is having to reassure US investors that its crucial WA operations are not imperilled by concerns its land clearing threatens Perth’s water supply.
Alcoa thinks its existing behind-closed-doors approval systems can be modified to better protect the environment but if the independent EPA takes over what happens next is unknown.
The US aluminum giant and its Australian partner had a good year in 2022,but its activities now threaten its social license in Western Australia.
WA Premier Mark McGowan,normally a vociferous supporter of mining,has made clear to US bauxite miner Alcoa that anywhere that threatens Perth’s dams is a no-go.
According to an internal Water Corporation assessment,US aluminium giant Alcoa’s clearing of WA jarrah forest in water catchments threatens the cost,reliability and quality of Perth’s water supply.