The department of conservation says Alcoa has not met the rehabilitation completion criteria,but the miner claims it has rehabilitated 75 per cent of the forest it has cleared.
When Alcoa says it has rehabilitated an area of jarrah forest it is a long way from what anyone would regard as being in good condition.
Alcoa’s future mining near Serpentine Dam is a greater threat to Perth’s biggest drinking water dam than its present work which is already worrying the WA government.
Alcoa’s mining practices which have already worried the state government may be subject to an independent environmental assessment following a request from an environmental group.
US aluminium giant Alcoa pumped water with “forever chemical” PFAS over a dam near Waroona without regulatory approval or telling the Water Corporation.
Alcoa needs the WA government to allow it to mine more jarrah forests north of Perth’s biggest drinking water dam to keep its alumina refineries at full production.
The terms of Alcoa mining WA’s jarrah forest were decided when the scale of planned deforestation was tiny as was Perth’s population. Plenty has changed since then.
Mining giant Alcoa’s plan to dispose of toxic firefighting chemical PFAS is an alarming prospect for south-west WA’s water supply,say Water Corporation staff.
Internal government advice shows that government agencies had frequently raised concerns about Serpentine Dam with Alcoa over the past two years.
Mining practices by Alcoa near Perth’s biggest dam could shut it down for years,causing water restrictions and potentially billions in water treatment costs.
Companies such as Rio Tinto and Alcoa are backing a push for Australia to recognise their products as “critical minerals” in the green energy shift.