Alcoa slugged millions over illegal forest clearing
Alcoa has been given the green light to open more forests in Australia after being fined for stripping land without permission for bauxite mining.
The US aluminum giant agreed to pay $55 million to restore the environment under an enforceable commitment reached with the federal government on Wednesday.
This report concerns habitat destruction in the North Jarrah Forest, south of Perth, between 2019 and 2025.
“This is the largest conservation-focused commitment of its kind,” federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said as he launched the agreement.
The company did not seek appropriate regulatory approvals to clear the land under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The agreement, enforceable in Federal Court, will provide permanent ecological balances to protect important habitats.
It will also expand conservation programs for species, including Western Australia’s three black cockatoo species, and strengthen management of invasive species in the Northern Jarrah Forest.
Senator Watt also granted Alcoa a national interest exemption so that the company can continue clearing land for mining operations for 18 months until the strategic assessment is completed.
He said this would ensure continued bauxite supplies to industry and trading partners in Australia.
It also enables Alcoa to maintain its operations, which employ approximately 6,000 workers.
The miner has committed to pay an additional offset of $4.2 million for activities covered by the environmental impacts management exemption.
The federal environment ministry and Alcoa have agreed to develop a strategic assessment agreement to enable future environmental approvals.
This will guide sustainable mining by 2045 at Alcoa’s Huntly and Willowdale mining operations, located about 100km south of Perth.
“This agreement will allow the government to assess the cumulative environmental impacts of Alcoa’s local mining operations and provide strong protections for threatened species and ecological communities, while providing Alcoa with long-term operational certainty,” said Senator Watt.
Alcoa said modernizing the approval framework would provide a better understanding of the potential impacts of land clearing and mining on important flora and fauna in the future.
The company will continue to limit the clearing area to 800 hectares per year and will increase new rehabilitation rates to 1,000 hectares per year by 2027.
“We are committed to responsible operations and welcome this important step to transition our approvals to a streamlined evaluation process that provides greater certainty for our operations and employees going forward,” said William F Oplinger, Alcoa president and CEO.
The strategic assessment will not affect the ongoing accredited environmental assessment of the future Myara North and Holyoake mining districts of the Huntly mine under Western Australian and federal environmental laws.
The Minerals Council of Australia said the deal was a pragmatic decision by Alcoa and the federal government.
Chief executive Tania Constable called on state and federal governments to “quickly finalize” applicable national environmental standards and assessment agreements to reduce mine approval delays.
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