Mineral Policy Institute

The most important thing you can do is make a donation to assist MPI's Esmeralda Spill Response campaign. We are pursuing a number of strategies to try to prevent Australian companies from causing further environmental disasters overseas.

Send a letter to the Australian government using the form below. Your message will be emailed to us, and we will then forward it to the Environment Minister, Senator Hill. Please be sure to include your name and email address.

Your name:
Your e-mail address:
Subject:
Base Letter; modify if you wish: Senator Robert Hill Minister for the Environment and Heritage Parliament House Canberra ACT Dear Senator Hill I am writing to you to express my disgust in relation to the cyanide spill caused by the part Australian owned mine in Romania. Whatever the final outcome the company involved, Esmeralda has acknowledged that 100 000 cubic metres of cyanide saturated water spilled from its dam. What has occurred is a major ecological disaster, an embarrassment for all Australians and a setback to the good name in which we could conduct business overseas. Sadly, this is not the first time Australian mining companies have been involved in bad practice. Ok Tedi, Lihir and Porgera are just a few other examples of mining practices which have brought disrepute to the industry. Australia is partly responsible for the mining disaster in Romania and should therefore be accountable. There are a number of actions we must take: 1. Australia must provide assistance in the clean up of the affected countries. 2. Australia must provide financial compensation for the victims who have suffered from the clearly inadequate procedures used by the Australian owned Esmeralda Explorations. 3. Legislation must be changed so that the overseas operations of Australian mining companies, such as Esmeralda Explorations and BHP, are subject to Australian environmental laws irrespective of where their operations are based. This would reassure communities, governments, potential investors and business partners in other countries, that Australian corporations would be operating in an ethical and accountable way. The precautionary approach would protect communities and their environments, maximise shareholder value in the long run, and minimise the risk of costly compensation pay-outs. The resulting credibility would be a competitive advantage. The M.C.A voluntary code of conduct is inadequate. Esmeralda is not a signatory. The environment is precious and it saddens me to see bad environmental and social practices being done by Australian companies, be it in minerals or other industries. We wouldn’t let this happen in our backyard, you must act now to prevent it happening elsewhere. Yours sincerely, YOUR NAME HERE

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