By Pip Hinman
The Northern Territory Environment Centre (ECNT) and the Australian Conservation Foundation have condemned ERA's plans to mill uranium from the Jabiluka mine at Ranger.
Speaking after a week-long visit to the Kakadu National Park, ACF executive director Jim Downey said, "Kakadu is a line in the sand for the conservation movement and an environment icon for Australia. We are not going to stand by and see it undone."
ECNT coordinator Jane Weepers said that the approval given last week by the NT government to mine ore body three at Ranger "adds an additional 13 years of uranium mining within Kakadu even without Jabiluka".
Downey cited a number of unresolved problems at Ranger which would be exacerbated by the expansion of mining. They include the disposal of the tailings within Kakadu National Park either by capping the existing tailings dam or by placement in the mined-out pits. Either way is dangerous given the likely erosion or seepage, he said.
Water management and disposal at Ranger already pose problems.
Other adverse impacts of the proposed Jabiluka mine include: construction of a new road in a previously undisturbed area; water disposal at the Jabiluka site; infrastructure development; damage to World Heritage sites; and the effect on Aboriginal communities.