In Western Australia, opposition strengthens against Wiluna uranium project, despite Federal approval
In the Media – National Indigenous Times, Lateral Love Australia, 22 April 13, Wiluna and Tarlpa peoples face the fear of uranium poison as Burke gives green light to Toro Energy to mine in their country Western Australia will be exporting uranium within two years after the Federal Government’s Environment Minister, Tony Burke granted environmental approval to Toro Energy’s Wiluna project.
To many people this was unexpected, including to Wiluna’s Aboriginal peoples and to anti-uranium mining and anti-nuclear advocates nationwide. Aboriginal leaders have promised to put themselves in the line of fire to protect Country and the future for their children’s children.
Wiluna Elder Glen Cooke said Country and the future “comes before all else” as far as his people were concerned“Uranium should stay in the ground. It can hurt our Country, the environment, our people, our children, our children’s children,” Mr Cooke said.
The Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke’s decision to provide the go ahead to Toro’s $270 million uranium mining project means Toro Energy is now free to enter into financial negotiations with potential joint venture partners.
Some of the touted potential venture partners are in China, India, Japan and South Korea.
Toro Energy needs to reach a mining agreement – an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) – with the two Native Title claimants in and near Wiluna.
This though will be little problem for them despite many within the Aboriginal communities among the Wiluna and Tarlpa peoples being vehemently against uranium mining on their Country. Mr Cooke has been a long time outspoken critic of uranium mining.
The Native Title Act is set up in such a way that both parties must enter into “good faith” negotiations and hopefully come to a mutually beneficial deal within six months.
If this fails you can count on the mining still going ahead. You can also count on the National Native Title Tribunal granting the various licences required by the resource company and you can count on the Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations to stand idly by.
Once Toro’s project is operational, with a timeline of 2015, hence two open-cut mines at Centipede and Lake Way will produce at least 780 tonnes of uranium oxide a year for at least 14 years.
But the Conservation Council of WA anti-nuclear campaign coordinator, Mia Pepper believes Western Australians can stand in the way of uranium mining.
“The Federal Minister’s approval is an approval before the data is complete,” Ms Pepper said.
“Toro still have huge gaps in their proposal. They have not secured, identified or done an impact study on water use for the life of the mine, nor have they completed geotechnical studies on the lake bed where they intend to store 9.1 million cubic metres of radioactive mine waste.
“This conditional approval is not a final approval as the conditions (by Minister Burke) spell out a number of new areas of approval Toro need to get alongside the mine closure plan, the land clearing permits, export licenses and more.”
Minister Burke’s approval came with a suite of 36 conditions. One of them is Toro must provide a guarantee radiation does not pollute ground and surface water……..http://lateralloveaustralia.com/2013/04/22/in-the-media-national-indigenous-times-6/
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