South Australian govt fails to regulate nuclear lobbysits, fails to address corruption issues
Schacht lobbied Rann for miner
*Michael Owen, SA political reporter | August 20, 2009 The Australian“………………..The Rann government is under pressure because of its lack of action to regulate the activities of lobbyists and establish a lobbyists’ register, as the Rudd government and other states have done. Continue reading
Growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion
(more Australian news at nuclear news Australia )
Greens growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion
MINING SAFETY5 August 2009GREENS MLC Mark Parnell says that BHP Billiton ‘s Olympic Dam Expansion Environmental Impact Statement contains glaring omissions alongside startling impacts.
Parnell claims that there are holes in this EIS almost as big as the mine’s open pit. For example, there is a woeful description on the 242 million tonne waste rock heap – a heap that will be so large it will be visible 30 kms away, soar higher than the Santos building and contain millions of tonnes of uranium and acid.
Parnell says the EIS is also silent on long term dust management. More than 25,000,000 litres of water will be sprayed around the site each and every day to prevent toxic dust storms, but what happens when the mining stops?
In many sections of there statement there are reportedly ‘options’ given – some sound, but expensive; others cheap and nasty. The huge concern is that the Federal and State Governments will approve the mine first, and leave it to the company to decide which options they pursue later.
Greens growing concern over the safety of Olympic Dam Expansion – Mining Safety
Neal Blue: U.S. arms salesman in charge of South Australian uranium mines
Digging dirt with a sledgehammer
The weapons manufacturer who converted Labor’s staunchest opponents to nuclear development has a controversial past, write Nick O’Malley and Ben Cubby…………………………….
………………..Neal Blue’s single-mindedness emerged during the battle over a Blue-owned uranium processing plant on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma.
After a series of radioactive spills a nine-legged frog was discovered outside the yellowcake factory.
A government investigation eventually established the company had known for years that radioactive material was leaking and that radioactivity in water around the plant was at levels 35,000 times higher than US federal laws permitted………………………………….
As General Atomics grew, Blue kept an eye on Australia. One of his former employees recalls that in the late 1980s Blue was sure the future was nuclear and Australia was going to be a key part of it.
He went about buying pastoral leases sitting on uranium deposits in South Australia and the Northern Territory, gambling that bans on uranium would one day be lifted.
He was right. In 1990 Blue established Heathgate Resources to operate the new Beverley uranium mine, near Lake Frome in South Australia……………………..The South Australian Government has recorded 59 spills of radioactive material on the surface at the site,……………..
there is no requirement it decontaminate the site when mining ceases.
The environmental impact assessment for Blue’s nearby Four Mile mine, approved this month by the federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, similarly carries no such requirement.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/digging-dirt-with-a-sledgehammer-20090729-e1lj.html
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Uranium mining company jumps the gun at Beverly 4 Mile in South Australia,
Traditional Owners call for immediate halt to uranium operations at Beverley 4 Mile
Coober Pedy Regional Times 28 July 09
Traditional Aboriginal owners of the country that includes the Beverley 4 Mile uranium deposit are outraged with mining operations having commenced prior to the completion of State and Federal approvals processes.
Last week Traditional Owners visiting the site were greeted by new fences and locked gates. They were advised by company representatives that future visits would require company consent and supervision as the mining site was ‘already operational’.
Community members believe the company has pre-empted the Australian approvals process as Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has not yet approved a Monitoring and Management plan, a Mine Closure plan and a Community Engagement plan, all of which are required prior to the start of mining works at Beverley 4 Mile.
Similarly Petratherm announced the commencement of drilling without community consultation being satisfied and without a Risk Assessment being obtained to satisfy community concerns of their intentions regarding chemicals use and contaminated waste disposal procedures.
“On the 4 Mile a number of important South Australian Aboriginal heritage assessment processes are also currently unfinished or incomplete. This was not the deal. The company has jumped the gun. Our community is being left out and our concerns are being ignored,” said Adnyamathanha elder Enice Marsh.
“We want the Federal and State governments to make this company stop work now.”
Traditional Owners and custodians are deeply saddened and angered by the position taken by the mining company Quasar Resources, an affiliate of the US weapons and nuclear energy corporation General Atomics ……………..
BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam will cause greenhouse emissions to soar
Mining growth a greenhouse gas threat
– Adelaide Now 29 July 09July 29, 2009
SOUTH Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will skyrocket with the expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine if the power comes from non-renewable sources.
The Australian Conservation Foundation says the State Government must make the expansion conditional on the use of renewable energy.
“This BHP mining plan is equivalent to putting more than one million inefficient polluting cars on to the roads and keeping them there for decades to come,” said ACF climate change program manager Tony Mohr.
A spokesman for Premier Mike Rann said the greenhouse gas emissions were “a key issue for consideration” and that the Government would ask BHP Billiton to demonstrate how it would comply with relevant legislation.
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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