The WA environment regulator opposed Alcoa’s mining but proposed safeguards if it went ahead. The Cook government ignored the first recommendation and watered down the second.
Alcoa’s troubled bauxite mining in WA’s jarrah forest will have extra government scrutiny costing $10.5 million over four years as the US miner seeks to repair its tarnished environmental credentials.
After six decades the US miner has left Kwinana with a contaminated plant and enough toxic red mud to fill Optus Stadium 138 times.
US miner Alcoa will stop producing alumina at its Kwinana refinery by September,leading to the loss of 550 direct jobs with another 200 to go in the following 12 months.
The boss of Alcoa Australia has been promoted to lead the US miner’s global operation from his Perth base after just seven months with the aluminium specialist.
Alcoa’s controversial mining of bauxite in WA’s south-west will be subject to the most detailed review possible by the state’s independent environment watchdog.
US miner Alcoa will choose who monitors whether its bauxite extraction that threatens Perth’s water supply complies with new guidelines announced by the state government on Thursday.
Perth’s largest source of drinking water has escaped damage from a massive blaze that burnt along its water edge over the weekend.
The WA Premier thinks local workers deserve better than the US miner telling its investors one thing,and the WA government another.
The Cook government plans a new environmental approval regime to keep besieged bauxite miner Alcoa operating but has promised standards will not be lowered.
The board of US aluminium giant Alcoa which is battling to obtain vital mining approvals in WA replaced chief executive Roy Harvey on Sunday.