The WA Environmental Protection Authority announced on Monday that Alcoa’s mining plans to 2027 will be subject to a public environmental review,after it accepted a referral by environmental group WA Forest Alliance.
EPA chair Professor Matthew Tonts said the authority would consider potential impacts on vegetation,wildlife,water catchments from clearing,climate change from carbon pollution,and social surroundings from the noise,dust and clearing.
“These proposals involve the clearing of large areas of native vegetation,so there will be impacts to a range of environmental values including biodiversity and water resources,” Tonts said.
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“There is also the potential for significant cumulative impacts to the northern jarrah forest.”
As well as Alcoa’s mining,South32 mines bauxite in the forest and US-based Newmont owns Australia’s largest gold mine at Boddington.
Even without mining,the forest that extends from inland of Perth to Collie is in trouble. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in 2022 the ecosystem was at risk of collapse due to hotter,drier conditions with more bushfires.