Ok Tedi mine waste:
From mountain to ocean

Mammoth trucks dump 80 000 tons of waste every day at the edge of the Ok Tedi mine in the Star Mountains, forming a huge heap, then...

The heap of waste is designed to wash into the river as it rains. This is called an "erodible waste dump". A slurry of tailings, another kind of mine waste left after the ore is processed, is also piped directly into the Ok Tedi catchment. All this waste ends up...

In the Ok Tedi river! The murky, waste laden Ok Tedi runs down the mountain, then joins the larger Fly River. The slower moving lowland river allows the waste to settle, diverting the original course of the river and forming bars. As this photo shows, the river is choked and boat travel on the river becomes difficult or impossible. The waste has killed 70 to 90% of the fish.

During times of high river water levels, the mine waste is transported up onto and over the river banks. At times like this when the river backs up into smaller creeks and swamps, the waste goes with it. The result is thick layers of sludge from the mine left in places which are normally high and dry...

The mine waste smothers people's riverbank food gardens, limiting their capacity to grow food for their families. It also kills trees and other vegetation wherever it forms a thick layer over their roots. This is called "dieback" and affects a large area along the river system below the mine.

Much of the waste washes down into the mouth of the Fly river. People who live here rely on fish they catch in the river mouth and ocean. There is strong evidence that fish are made sick by the mine waste, probably by heavy metals such as copper it contains. It is clear that the number of fish caught has dropped severely.

It is well known that altough BHP's Ok Tedi mine is in Papua New Guinea, many operating staff are Australian, decisions about how to build and operate the mine are made in BHP's board room in Melbourne, and much of the profits from the mine flow back into Australian pockets. What is less well appreciated is that the mine may be having environmental impacts on Australia.

This map shows how close Papua New Guinea is to Australia, something many Australians don't realise. The Fly river empties directly into the Torres Strait. At this point the Great Barrier Reef is very close to the mine waste.

It is important that research is done to investigate the impact of toxic copper and other heavy metals from the mine. This may affect Torres Strait fishing communities and the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.