State Government must end silence on mine spill clean up

The Wilderness Society (QLD) Inc
Media Release
1 March, 2010

There has been total silence from the Queensland State Government following very specific revelations from the Wilderness Society two weeks ago about the Lady Annie Mine pollution incident that wrecked ecosystems and threatened livelihoods in northwest Queensland one year ago.

On 30 January and 7 February 2009, inadequate flood defences on the Lady Annie copper mine site failed and dumped large volumes of highly toxic waste down Inca and Saga creeks near Mt Isa. This included dangerous levels of copper, uranium, zinc, aluminium, lead, arsenic, cobalt and nickel as well as turning the creeks highly acidic,

Wilderness Society Rivers Campaigner Rupert Quinlan stated "After reading 1,000 pages of internal state government documents obtained by the Wilderness Society under Right to Information legislation, I have no confidence that the creeks in question have been cleaned up, The clean up method that was chosen after many months of delay was controversial and according to the government's own experts, doomed to failure".

Australian Floodplain Association Executive Mr. Angus Emmott of Noonbah Station added "As a grazier, I need assurance firstly that my property and enterprise is secure from any pollution from mines, and secondly, if the worst does happen, that it is cleared up. What we have seen from the Lady Annie Mine spill is likely to have had a catastrophic impact on families operating affected properties, once the creeks and dams are polluted, cattle cannot run on that country - the cost could run into millions".

"I would like to ask the state government two specific questions. Firstly, have the polluted creeks from the Lady Annie Mine spill been cleaned up? And secondly, will there be a systematic audit of all mines in the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin to make sure there is no repeat of this failure in this globally important river system?" concluded Mr. Quinlan.

The Wilderness Society and Australian Floodplain Association are looking at hiring an eminent toxicologist to undertake independent testing of polluted creeks in the next few weeks.

Australian Floodplain Association
The AFA is a non-profit organisation that works for the benefit of communities and land managers whose livelihoods depend on healthy and sustainably managed river systems and associated floodplains. The AFA represents the interests of its members when and where required, liaises with governments and government agencies charged with natural resource and environmental management responsibilities and promotes the values of sustainably managed river systems and their associated floodplains and wetlands.