Acid leach mining set to further damage groundwater in State’s North

20/02/09 11:00 am

Greens MLC Mark Parnell has expressed alarm at the latest proposal to use the highly damaging acid in-situ leaching process to mine uranium in the State’s Far North.

The public consultation period for the Beverley Four Mile Project Public Environment Report and Mining Lease Proposal closes today.

“The Beverley Four Mile Project will deliberately infuse sulphuric acid into a publicly owned water aquifer, and then after they have finished, the mining company intends to walk away without doing any rehabilitation of the precious groundwater resource,” said Mark Parnell.

“How can anyone call that ‘world’s best practice’?

“The in–situ leaching process is highly controversial – with very good reason. Pumping acid into the soil and aquifers will leave behind acid and radioactive wastes for many years to come. For this reason, no commercial acid leach mine has ever operated in the USA, and in Eastern Europe groundwater has been left heavily polluted.

“Yet, despite the terrible record overseas, the South Australian Government is continuing to turn a blind eye to this massive abuse of the State’s water aquifers. To not even require the company to do even basic rehabilitation is simply scandalous.

“The Beverley Four Mile project will not only mean even more South Australian uranium will hit the international nuclear market, we will trash our environment as we mine it.

“The Greens once again call on the Rann Government to urgently re-examine its support for the expansion of uranium mining in our state. At the very least, the Government must insist on the comprehensive rehabilitation of our groundwater aquifers before they approve any more use of the destructive acid leaching technology,” he said.

printer friendly version