Monday, October 11, 2010

Ranger - green wash of the darkest hue

Here's a link to ERA's water treatment page on their website. Jeez that sounds nice I thought when I read it. But now I'm reading that the tailings dam is estimated to be seeping at 150,000 litres a day, and in December a dam burst releasing 6 million litres of contaminated water into the national park.

The website when I was reading made much of the tailing dam exceeding original design specifications but according to Wikipedia the original design specifications grossly underestimated the rainfall in the region. Nice to exceed original specs but not actually nice enoug. The original authorization of the mine required water to be contained at all times.

The Mirrarr people and the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal corporation are opposing expansion of the mine, asking how a mine that can't meet current standards can be allowed to expand. The Greens are asking the same question.

The mining companies sort a foot in the door so they could shove it wide open.

So is ERA practicing green wash of the darkest hue?

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