World Bank echoes calls for Ok Tedi closure
MPI media release
7 March 2000
International environment NGOs today called on BHP to comply with a World Bank report which recommends BHP's giant Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea should be closed immediately, on environmental grounds. Australia's Mineral Policy Institute, PNG's NGO Environment Watch Group, MiningWatch Canada, and two US based organisations, Mineral Policy Center and Project Underground also called on BHP to immediately implement a mine closure plan.
The World Bank's report, commissioned by the PNG government, is sharply critical of BHP's Ok Tedi mine. The report found that the miners' own assessment of strategies for addressing the environmental disaster "reviews a limited set of technical options ... that minimises overall risk to shareholders".
"BHP's irresponsible attempt to walk away from the problem and receive legal indemnity is totally unacceptable. BHP is putting share value ahead of the livelihoods of thousands of people. The World Bank report reaffirms the long held position of non-government groups in PNG, Australia and the USA. If the mine cannot operate without causing massive environmental and social destruction, it must close, and BHP must fully rehabilitate damaged communities and environments", Mr Geoff Evans, Director of the Mineral Policy Institute said today.
BHP's Ok Tedi mine has caused continuing massive environmental and social impacts. The mine dumps 80,000 tons of waste each day into the Fly river system. Food gardens and other vegetation along the river have been smothered with waste, and most of the fish in the Upper Fly and Ok Tedi rivers are dead.
According to Mr Wep Kanawi, convenor for PNG's NEWG, "A mine closure plan needs to be put in place immediately. At the mine site, BHP must fund a transition to a sustainable local economy. The communities affected by loss of fish and destruction of riverbank gardens downstream must be compensated and their environment rehabilitated".
"BHP has an ethical and environmental obligation to clean up this environmental mess. In concrete terms that means a comprehensive closure plan and a financial guarantee. Whatever decision is made regarding mine closure, BHP can't be allowed to walk away from the lasting environmental and social impacts of its mine" said Mr Stephen D'Esposito, Director of the US based Mineral Policy Center.
"It's payback time for BHP. Their account is due on Ok Tedi and they must be made to do the right thing and ante-up for damages as an example to the industry as a whole," added Alan Young, chairman of MiningWatch Canada. "If BHP can get away with in PNG, then what can we expect as Canadians from BHP's diamond mind in northern Canada? There should be no double standard on clean-up for mining companies."
"Now BHP and the World Bank are admitting what landowners, downstreamers and environmentalists observing the Ok Tedi mine have been saying for a decade: a mine of this scale is an ecological and social time-bomb!" said Danny Kennedy, Director of the Berkeley-based mining and oil company watchdog Project Underground. "The one signal this post facto recognition sends to investors in hard rock mining companies is caveat emptor -- buyer beware".
"The World Bank report comes at a time when Australia's international reputation is still in tatters after a disastrous toxic spill by another Australian mining company, Esmeralda. This is another reminder which highlights the need for legislation to prevent Australian mining companies from operating overseas in an irresponsible manner which would not be permitted here in their own country", concluded Mr Evans.
For media enquiries:
Geoff Evans, Director Mineral Policy Institute, Sydney 0418 261 404,
or Igor O'Neill: (02) 9387 5540
Also:
Wep Kanawi, Convenor NGO Environment Watch Group, Port Moresby 675 323 5552
Stephen D'Esposito, Director Mineral Policy Center, Washington 1 202-887-1872
Alan Young, Chair MiningWatch Canada c/o Canadian Environmental Law Association Toronto Canada 416-960-2284
Danny Kennedy, Director of the Berkeley-based Project Underground 1 510 705 8981
International environment NGOs today called on BHP to comply with a World Bank report which recommends BHP's giant Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea should be closed immediately, on environmental grounds. Australia's Mineral Policy Institute, PNG's NGO Environment Watch Group, MiningWatch Canada, and two US based organisations, Mineral Policy Center and Project Underground also called on BHP to immediately implement a mine closure plan.
The World Bank's report, commissioned by the PNG government, is sharply critical of BHP's Ok Tedi mine. The report found that the miners' own assessment of strategies for addressing the environmental disaster "reviews a limited set of technical options ... that minimises overall risk to shareholders".
"BHP's irresponsible attempt to walk away from the problem and receive legal indemnity is totally unacceptable. BHP is putting share value ahead of the livelihoods of thousands of people. The World Bank report reaffirms the long held position of non-government groups in PNG, Australia and the USA. If the mine cannot operate without causing massive environmental and social destruction, it must close, and BHP must fully rehabilitate damaged communities and environments", Mr Geoff Evans, Director of the Mineral Policy Institute said today.
BHP's Ok Tedi mine has caused continuing massive environmental and social impacts. The mine dumps 80,000 tons of waste each day into the Fly river system. Food gardens and other vegetation along the river have been smothered with waste, and most of the fish in the Upper Fly and Ok Tedi rivers are dead.
According to Mr Wep Kanawi, convenor for PNG's NEWG, "A mine closure plan needs to be put in place immediately. At the mine site, BHP must fund a transition to a sustainable local economy. The communities affected by loss of fish and destruction of riverbank gardens downstream must be compensated and their environment rehabilitated".
"BHP has an ethical and environmental obligation to clean up this environmental mess. In concrete terms that means a comprehensive closure plan and a financial guarantee. Whatever decision is made regarding mine closure, BHP can't be allowed to walk away from the lasting environmental and social impacts of its mine" said Mr Stephen D'Esposito, Director of the US based Mineral Policy Center.
"It's payback time for BHP. Their account is due on Ok Tedi and they must be made to do the right thing and ante-up for damages as an example to the industry as a whole," added Alan Young, chairman of MiningWatch Canada. "If BHP can get away with in PNG, then what can we expect as Canadians from BHP's diamond mind in northern Canada? There should be no double standard on clean-up for mining companies."
"Now BHP and the World Bank are admitting what landowners, downstreamers and environmentalists observing the Ok Tedi mine have been saying for a decade: a mine of this scale is an ecological and social time-bomb!" said Danny Kennedy, Director of the Berkeley-based mining and oil company watchdog Project Underground. "The one signal this post facto recognition sends to investors in hard rock mining companies is caveat emptor -- buyer beware".
"The World Bank report comes at a time when Australia's international reputation is still in tatters after a disastrous toxic spill by another Australian mining company, Esmeralda. This is another reminder which highlights the need for legislation to prevent Australian mining companies from operating overseas in an irresponsible manner which would not be permitted here in their own country", concluded Mr Evans.
For media enquiries:
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