Kathy Newnam
Candidates for the Greens and the Socialist Alliance have called for the Northern Territory's Ranger uranium mine to be permanently shut down.
On September 4, operations at the mine were disrupted after 20 litres of radioactive processing chemicals spilled from a containment area. This occurred less than 24 hours after the resumption of operations, which had been temporarily suspended following a report by the Office of the Supervising Scientist into the contamination of workers' drinking and showering water in March. The contaminated water contained uranium at 400 times the legal limit.
Energy Resources Australia, the mine operator, claimed the latest spill posed no safety risks, but environmentalists and traditional owners of the land, in Kakadu National Park, have renewed their calls for action against ERA.
The accident is another in the long list of over 120 serious incidents since the mined opened in 1981.
Ilana Eldridge, the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Solomon, believes that the mismanagement of the process water at the mine is scandalous. In a August 31 press release, Eldridge stated that the "mine's process water never goes through an intensive treatment plant appropriate for this kind of toxic, radioactive liquid waste. It's simply spray irrigated onto the surrounding bush, and channelled through the on-site wetland...
"The best future for the site, and the surrounding World Heritage Kakadu National Park, is accelerated decommissioning of the mine and relinquishment of the lease."
Ray Hayes, the lead Senate candidate for the Socialist Alliance in the Northern Territory, agrees. "There is no safe way to mine uranium", Hayes told Green Left Weekly. "For decades now, this is what the anti-nuclear movement has been saying, and we've been proven right time and time again."
According to the Australian Conservation Foundation's Dave Sweeney, "Ranger has serious systemic problems and these are getting worse as the mine gets older. As the pipes get rustier, the risks get greater. ERA has growing problems with water and waste management and this mine poses a real threat to the health of workers, local communities and Kakadu National Park."
The federal government has come under fire for its failure to act upon a 2003 Senate inquiry into uranium mining, which contained detailed safety recommendations.
The NT government, which is responsible for the monitoring of Ranger, has also been called upon to act against ERA. Sweeney told ABC Radio National on September 5: "It's time now for the Martin government to do the thing that it knows is the right thing, is the proper thing, and is it's responsibility under law."
The ACF believes that ERA should be prosecuted for its repeated failure to comply with the conditions of its mining lease.
Following the September 4 spill, the mine will face a series of three safety audits, beginning on September 13.
ALP environmental spokesperson Kelvin Thompson told media on August 31 that a "culture of complacency" existed at the mine and that this was the result of the federal Coalition government's ignoring of recommendations made by the Senate inquiry last year.
While supporting the implementation of these recommendations, Hayes commented that this is not enough. "Of course ERA is complacent about safety", the socialist candidate said. "All they care about is their precious bottom line and they won't let the environment or worker's health to get in the way of that as long as they can get away with it.
"The solution is not better regulation or monitoring. The only safe uranium is buried deep in the ground. The only lasting solution to this dangerous and dirty industry is its immediate closure."
In calling for the closure of Ranger, the socialists have also called for full compensation and retraining for the workers at the mine.
From Green Left Weekly, September 15, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.