Sydney’s Western suburbs don’t want Hunter’s Hill radioactive uranium waste
Uranium plant waste unwelcome in western suburbs, SMH, Ben Cubby, October 26, 2011 THE state government will face tough local opposition if it intends to take contaminated waste from a radioactive site in Hunters Hill and bury it at Kemps Creek in the city’s west.
It conceded at a budget estimates hearing this week that Kemps Creek was the only viable option if 5800 tonnes of mildly radioactive dirt and rock were to be removed from the site of a former uranium-processing plant.
The waste cannot be taken overseas or interstate, but Penrith City Council remains firmly opposed to the plan, which was first floated under the previous state government. Documents produced last year showed waste was to be placed in sealed trucks and driven to Kemps Creek, and warned that protests against the operation were likely to take place in western Sydney……
Hunters Hill Council wants the site cleaned up and the earth removed but does not want to simply transfer the problem to another part of Sydney. The land, on Nelson Parade, was the site of a radium smelter between 1911 and 1916. About 500 tonnes of uranium ore were processed at the plant and radioactive tailings are still mixed in with soil.
At least six people who have lived on or next door to the site have died of cancer, but there is no proven link between elevated levels of radiation on the site and health problems. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/uranium-plant-waste-unwelcome-in-western-suburbs-20111025-1mi4y.html#ixzz1bx7aVolq
Renewable energy in Australia is up against anti science Tea Party style thinking
As in the U.S., Australian conservative parties have been the target of a take over by self-styled Tea Party radicals in recent years…
Conservatives are increasingly led by a more shrill, less educated set, who are more likely to be small business owners or from the resource sector. To these climate denialists, renewable energy is part of a global conspiracy to destroy prosperity and Western values. ..
Unsurprisingly, some think tanks on the conservative side of politics are now linked with the notorious climate denial and astroturf efforts of the Koch brothers.
In Australia, Can Renewable Energy Get Over the Tea Party Blues?, Renewable Energy World, By Dan Cass , October 27, 2011 Australia’s government is trying to initiate a new era of clean energy and facing such powerful opposition that some renewables companies that will benefit from the policy are scared to proactively campaign for it.
The debate around Australia’s new Clean Energy Future legislation has seen conservative parties here — as in the USA — take a stance that is not just oppositional, but dangerously radical. They now oppose traditional conservative measures such as carbon trading and corrections to market failure and a substantial minority are vocally anti-science. Continue reading
South Australia’s rushed discussion of draconian new legislation for BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mine
Nectaria Calan, 27 Oct 11, The most concerning and indeed contentious parts that I am familiar with at this stage relate to the water and freehold clauses, and continued exemptions from the Environmental Protection Act and the Aboriginal Heritage Act.
Re: water – the much publicised water levy for Great Artesian Basin Water (and perhaps water from other sources) does not address the increased volume of water to be taken from the GAB (increasing from 37 million litres per day to 42 million), nor the impact that even the current volume is having on the mound springs in the region. …
Clause 24 provides for the Minister to grant the entire 49, 700 ha of the proposed expanded mining lease (as estimated in the EIS) to BHP as freehold title free of charge. This is a huge area to be simply given away by the State Government to one mining company, and amounts to a huge subsidy for the company. The most contentious aspect of this clause is that it absolutely dispossesses the Aboriginal custodians of the area by simply giving the land away. One may ask, if the government is so keen to give it away, why they don’t return it to the Aboriginal communities of the region?
This is a new addition to the Indenture – it is not in the current Act.
In particular, the subclauses state that for the minister to grant freehold title he must first be satisfied that either Native Title has been extinguished or that the act of granting freehold will extinguish it. So the intention is clearly to extinguish Native Title if possible. Additionally, I believe (although I am not certain) that once Native Title is extinguished it is extinguished permanently – however this fades in significance when you consider that the land will be returned to the Crown (at the mines closure) contaminated with almost 9 billion tonnes of tailings and after the company has destroyed sacred sites by virtue of digging the biggest hole in the world.
The exemptions from the Aboriginal Heritage Act carry through to the amended Bill (from the current indenture). Both the Indenture Act and amended Bill exempt BHP from key parts of the main piece of legislation in the state providing protection for Aboriginal heritage sites – there is a conflict of interest here as a company with a commercial interest in the land is left to adjudicate the validity of competing non-commercial interests.
Despite the state government claiming last week in a press release that the expansion will be subject to the Environmental Protection Act (by removing the exemption from the Indenture), the amended indenture still lists the Act as one over which the indenture prevails. BHP’s environmental Management Plans are to be over-seen and approved by the Minister rather than the Environmental Protectkion Agency (which would be the norm). This is essentially the same as the current Indenture Act. There is arguable a conflict of interest here also, as the Minister (for Mineral resources and Energy) is a proponent for mining.
The Select Parliamentary Committee established to further inquire into the Indenture Bill is having its first hearing tomorrow. It will be hearing from BHP, the Olympic Dam taskforce (which is a department within the state government, and the Chamber of Mines (an industry body). Clearly all witnesses are uncritical of the Indenture, and at this stage it looks like it will be held behind closed doors. it is also unclear whether they will call for more witnesses on another day.
Make Roxby Downs Indenture Act discussion transparent, and study environmental issues, say Greens
Weatherill must back Roxby words with action, 27 Oct 11 Greens Leader Mark Parnell has welcomed Premier Jay Weatherill’s call for the special Parliamentary Committee examining the Roxby Expansion to be an ‘open process’ that hears from critics of the project.
In response to pressure from the Greens, today’s hearings of the Select Committee into the Olympic Dam expansion legislation were opened up to the media and public. However, at this stage the Committee – made up of 4 Labor and 3 Liberal MPs – has no plans to hear from any other witnesses apart from the 3 pro-expansion spruikers: the Government ODX Taskforce, BHP and the Chamber of Mines, despite other requests from scientific and environmental experts to appear. The Committee has only 2 days left to schedule hearings.
“I welcome the Premier’s intervention, but he has to back his words with action,” said Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell. “Time is well and truly running out to hear from anyone else. If the Committee is genuine about keeping faith with the Premier, it will make a public call for submissions and offer an opportunity for those who have raised concerns in the past about this project to challenge the assertions made by BHP Billiton and the ODX Taskforce.
“The Greens have forced the door to be opened on these hearings. Now we insist these hearings must be open to other witnesses,” he said. Mark Parnell also rejected the claim by Committee Chair Tom Koutsantonis that the Parliamentary Committee should not be looking at the project’s environmental issues. “The Minister’s claims that the environmental issues with the expansion project were signed away with the EIS approval is rubbish,” said Mr Parnell.
“The Roxby Indenture legislation is all about the deal done with BHP on water, energy, waste tailings, the desalination plant and environmental monitoring. The reason BHP CE Marius Kloppers is crowing to his shareholders that this is a ‘low cost’ project is because SA is bearing all the environmental costs and not getting a fair share of the returns.
“So far, this Parliamentary Committee has failed to rigorously examine this project to ensure our State gets the best deal possible,” he said.
Behind closed doors, South Australian govt and uranium miners do Indenture Act deal
BHP’s Marius Kloppers flies in to meet Premier, Adelaide Now, by:State editor Greg Kelton ,October 27, 2011 IN his last
week as premier, Mike Rann flew to Melbourne to negotiate the Olympic Dam expansion with BHP boss Marius Kloppers.
But this week the BHP Billiton chief executive will fly to Adelaide to meet new Premier Jay Weatherill to discuss progress on the mine expansion indenture. The face-to-face meeting follows a telephone discussion at the weekend between Mr Weatherill and Mr Kloppers and a meeting yesterday between Mr Weatherill and BHP Billiton’s president (uranium customer sector group) Dean Dalla Valle…..
Legislation to ratify the agreement was introduced in Parliament last week by former treasurer Kevin Foley, who was minister assisting the Premier on the dam expansion….. On Tuesday the Liberal party room completed two days of briefings on the Olympic Dam project. It will have a joint party room meeting on November 8 to decide its position on the indenture.
The Greens yesterday accused the Government of turning scrutiny of the Olympic Dam indenture into a farce.
Greens leader Mark Parnell said a special parliamentary committee, which has to examine the agreement, was planning to hear from only three witnesses and prevent the media and public from attending the hearings.
Mr Parnell said the only groups invited to present evidence to the committee were the Government, BHP-Billiton and the Chamber of Mines.
“No advertising has been done and the hearings are set to be held behind closed doors,” he said, accusing the Government and Opposition of concocting the committee process. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/bhp-flies-in-to-meet-premier/story-e6frede3-1226177764951
Western Australian govt will be cracking down on anti nuclear and other peaceful protestors
Barnett’s jail threat to human rights activist, SMH Courtney Trenwith, October 24, 2011 – A Perth protester says he has been officially threatened with jail if he enters a CBD exclusion zone during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting week. Seamus Doherty said WA Police notified him this morning that he was named on an excluded persons’ list and faced up to a year in jail if he entered designated security areas…..
“Naturally we’re worried about what we’ve seen in Sydney and Melbourne. No one can look at the footage of what the police actions were and say it was reasonably or justified actions by police.
“We’ve always said that our protest is a peaceful protest. All we’re planning to do is exercise our democratic right to assemble.”….”It is outrageous that non-violent, human-rights activists should suffer this kind of treatment by WA authorities.”..Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/barnetts-jail-threat-to-human-rights-activist-20111024-1mfpc.html#ixzz1bpHdO3Q1
CHOGM powers to haul in kids has watchdog snarling, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:DEBBIE GUEST , October 20, 2011 THE inspector of Western Australia’s powerful corruption watchdog is worried about extraordinary police powers granted for next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The new laws — which take effect in Perth from today until November 5 — will allow police to haul children as young as 16 before a Corruption and Crime Commission examination…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/chogm-powers-to-haul-in-kids-has-watchdog-snarling/story-e6frgczx-1226171
Interstate police officers arrive in Perth for CHOGM, ABC News Newcastle 19 Oct 11, “……Two planes carrying officers from South Australia and New South Wales arrived at Perth airport this afternoon. Those officers were the first of more than 700 extra police from across Australia and New Zealand who will arrive in the next few days for CHOGM…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-19/chogm-police-arrive-in-perth/3579850/?site=newcastle
Mike Rann sold South Australia short on Olympic Dam uranium mine
A case of Olympian incompetence by South Australia, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:PAUL CLEARY ,October 21, 2011 THE royalty agreement negotiated by South Australia for BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam expansion has robbed the state’s citizens and all Australians of the opportunity to share in the profits of what will become the world’s biggest mine. (at left, Marius Kloppers CEO of BHP BIlliton, and Mike Rann, retiring Premier of South Australia.)
This deal is a monumental example of state government incompetence when it comes to acting as custodian of the nation’s mineral wealth.
South Australia has agreed to a regime based solely on percentages and even cents per tonne of the mine’s production. Mike Rann, who stands down today as Premier, has done South Australians a disservice that will cost them dearly for almost half a century. Continue reading
South Australia’s outgoing Premier contradicts Labor Party policy on uranium to India?
Rann changes tack on uranium sales to India, The Australian, October 20, 2011 “…….The long-serving South Australian Premier, forced by Labor to hand his premiership over to Education Minister Jay Weatherill tomorrow morning, said it was time to think about agreeing to India’s desire to import uranium from Australia……. Mr Rann’s remarks came a week after he signed off on approvals for BHP Billiton’s proposal to expand the Olympic Dam mine in the state’s far north. “It will be the world’s biggest uranium mine,” he said.
Mr Rann was a longstanding opponent of uranium exports to India, and had called potential sales a “grave mistake” and “extremely foolhardy”. While India is Australia’s third-biggest export market, Labor is opposed to exporting uranium to a nation that has not signed the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In September, Tony Abbott said the government had made a “great mistake” in reversing the Howard government’s decision to sell uranium to India……
Speaking from France, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal government’s policy was clear. “We will only supply uranium to countries that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have signed a bilateral agreement with Australia,” he said…..
Australian Uranium Association chief executive Michael Angwin said it was not the Premier’s role to determine which countries uranium could be exported to.
Australia’s Liberal Party’s new platform – Against renewable Energy
the Coalition is becoming an anti-renewable energy party
Abbott opens new front in climate war, Unleashed, 19 Oct 11, This week Tony Abbott and the Coalition opened up a new front in their ideological war against climate change action and carbon pricing.
In a move reminiscent of the US Tea Party, renewable energy has become the new target of Australia’s conservative party.
Not content with the ‘blood pledge‘ to repeal the carbon price, Abbott lieutenants Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb announced that a Coalition government would scrap the Clean Energy Finance Council (CEFC). If well designed and administered, the body is a potentially useful aid for Australia’s transition to a 21st-Century clean economy. The plan to abolish the CEFC threatens $10 billion of investment: $5 billion exclusively for renewable energy and the remainder available for cleantech manufacturing, energy efficiency and enabling infrastructure.* Continue reading
South Australian Premier Mike Rann having a bet each way on his uranium “legacy”
Two faced Premier Mike Rann, previously elected as S.A. Labor Party’s spokesman AGAINST uranium mining, went on to be a fervent servant of BHP Billiton. Now he wants to have his “legacy” as having approved. the monster Olympic Dam open cut uranium mine.
BUT – that mightn’t work out. Olympic Damn has a good chance of becoming an environmental and economic nightmare for South Australia. So, just in case, Mr Rann is now piously giving himself the credit for saving Arkaroola Wildreness from uranium mining. (Bad luck, Marathon Resources, your Premier dumped you for BHP.) – Christina Macpherson
Arkaroola protection bill going to SA Parliament ABC News, October 17, 2011 Premier Mike Rann has visited Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary to promote this week’s introduction of legislation to permanently protect the area from mining.
The South Australian Premier sees Arkaroola’s protection as some of his last business before he steps out of the limelight…
His Government signed the Olympic Dam indenture with BHP Billiton last week, another key project Mr Rann leaves as his legacy….. New laws will ban all types of mining at Arkaroola and come four years after exploration waste was dumped at Mount Gee in the area by explorer Marathon Resources. Arkaroola also has been provisionally listed on the state heritage register and will be nominated for national and world heritage listing…
Marathon Resources had spent millions of dollars exploring at Arkaroola and its share price has fallen since the mining ban was flagged.It is negotiating with the SA Government for compensation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-17/arkaroola-wilderness-legislation-mining-ban/3574300
Sydney’s Hunter’s Hill uranium radioactive wastes might be dumped in western suburb
Sydney’s uranium waste could still go west, Josephine Tovey, October 18, 2011 The Premier, Barry O’Farrell, will not rule out sending waste from a former uranium plant in Hunters Hill to western Sydney, despite the Coalition campaigning against the move when it was in opposition.
The Keneally government had signed a contract with SITA Environmental Solutions at Kemps Creek to dispose of the waste but withdrew from it last year after an outcry from the community.
Liberal candidate for Mulgoa Tanya Davies, who won the seat, had accused the former government of using her electorate as “dumping ground for Sydney”…. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/sydneys-uranium-waste-could-still-go-west-20111017-1ltfb.html
Grandiose uranium mine depicted as a tourist attraction!
As well as a giant open pit, the company will leave behind a small mountain of unused rocks and a large tailings storage facility, which will need to be fenced off with warnings of the potential for radiation exposure.
Once mining stops, the pit is expected to fill with rising groundwater, creating a vast outback lake that would be up to 350m deep.
BHP Billiton says backfilling is not a feasible option and has suggested the South Australian Government resume control of the pit and turn it into a managed tourist attraction. It says the government would be responsible for building and maintaining viewing platforms and controlling access by tourists, students and scientists.
It suggests the rock storage, where it will dump the ”overburden” of surface rock and soil which will take about five years to remove, should be returned as crown land and could also be used for tourism….
The expanded mine is planned to be productive for 40 years……
Anti-nuclear groups and the Greens have criticised the conditions for not going far enough, but are equally concerned about what will be left behind.
The Australian Nuclear Free Alliance said almost nine billion tonnes of radioactive waste would remain in northern SA. A spokeswoman said if that was acceptable to the SA Government, then it was setting the bar ”extremely low”.
”The radioactive waste will remain on Kokatha and Arabunna country long after BHP Billiton packs up its business and moves on,” she said, referring to traditional indigenous landowners of the region…. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/mine-could-one-day-be-a-tourist-attraction/2320845.aspx
Obscenity of BHP Billiton’s Control of Huge Water Resources in Olympic Damn Uranium Mine Deal
VIDEO Mine expansion draws more water from basin ABC News, Paul Klaric, October 14, 2011 Scientists are concerned that the the proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion will put a strain on Australia’s greatest underground water supply. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-14/mine-expansion-draws-more-water-from-basin/3572500
GREEN LIGHT FOR OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION THE BLOGGER IS A BHP BILLITON SHAREHOLDER. On 13 May 2011 the company announced a proposal for six-fold expansion of Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia – to extract the most valuable single mineral deposit in the world. The mine will consume up to 42 million litres of water a day from the Great Artesian Basin for plus 40 years.
USE OF THE GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN BY THAT MINE IS THE ISSUE WHICH THIS BLOG ADDRESSES
On 10 October 2011 the South Australian (SA) Government granted approval for the BHP Billiton (BHP) Olympic Dam expansion. The Indenture Bill, signed on 12 October by representatives of BHP and the State Government, will now be submitted to vote in the SA Parliament. The SA government will not terminate or suspend the current licence which entitles BHP to take 42 million litres of water each day for Olympic Dam from the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) – but BHP will in the future pay for GAB water. This failure of the SA Government to protect the best interests of the GAB represents an enormously significant strategic win for BHP.
Australia’s carbon tax has a symbolic and leadership value in international effort against global warming
The passage of this initiative is still hugely important, if for no other reason than that it shows Big Coal can be rolled. The coal industry is an even larger part of the Australian economy than it is of the American, and it has an enormous amount of political power. And just like here in the U.S., there are plenty of shrill politicians in Oz who claim that any new tax will lead to economic ruin.
Gillard told Members of Parliament that they would be judged on their vote by every Australian, “because the final test is not are you on the right side of the politics of the week, or the polls of the year.”
“The final test is this: are you on the right side of history?”
Australian Carbon Tax Vote: A Very Big Deal, ROLLING STONE, : OCTOBER 13, By JEFF GOODELL So maybe there is hope for us yet. After what one Aussie columnist calls“the dirtiest and most dishonest campaign ever waged before the Australian public,” with millions of dollars spent on media ads and climate skeptics flown in from around the world, Australia’s House of Representatives voted yesterday, 74 to 72,to levy a tax on carbon pollution. The proposal, which was pushed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will impose a price of $23 on a ton of carbon pollution, starting in 2015. After 2015, an emissions-trading scheme will be introduced, with the goal of cutting total carbon pollution 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. The legislation still needs to pass the Senate, but because Greens control the balance of power there, that is not likely to be a problem. Unless something dramatic happens, in a few months Australia will have taken an important first step toward saving itself from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
This is a big deal. Continue reading
Australia’s House of Representatives passes The Australian Clean Energy legislative package,
Australian clean and renewable energy legislation passed, Reinforced Plastic 13 October 2011 The Australian Clean Energy legislative package, which put a price on carbon emissions and promotes renewable energy, has been passed by the House of Representatives. By Kari Williamson The 19 Bills comprise the Clean Energy legislation and the Steel Transformation Plan Bill, which put a price on carbon emissions, promote investment in renewable and clean energy technologies, and support action to reduce carbon pollution on the land.
The legislation will now be introduced to the Senate, and aims to be passed through the upper house by the end of the year. According to media reports, there could be over US$13.2 billion on the table for renewable energy and other low-carbon investment if the legislation passes the Senate.
Australia is currently one of the top 20 polluting countries in the world. http://www.reinforcedplastics.com/view/21326/australian-clean-and-renewable-energy-legislation-passed/
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 