Environmental criminals
Yet another toxic spill by an Australian mining company in the Third World provides a compelling argument for tougher laws against polluters. It also exposes the futility of "industry self-regulation".
On March 22, one tonne of deadly cyanide pellets, en route to Dome Mining's Tolukuma goldmine in Papua New Guinea, were accidentally dropped from a helicopter. Seventy per cent of the consignment has reportedly been located, but 150 kilograms has dissolved into nearby rivers.
The poison could kill people who drinking from the waters downstream from the spill, PNG experts warned. PNG's Disaster and Emergency Services has issued a warning against drinking from any natural water source in the area. The company, however, has claimed that "any effect on the environment will be minimised". It is unlikely the company will face any legal action.
Dome has also come under fire from traditional landowners downstream from its operations for dumping mine waste straight into the Auga River. Tests performed in Australia have shown the waste to have a high content of poisonous heavy metals.
The spill in PNG comes barely two months after the even larger disaster in Romania, in which 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated water escaped from a dam at the part-Australian owned Baia Mare mine. Hungary's environment minister has claimed that 1200 tonnes of fish have died in the Tisza and Somes rivers downstream.
Esmeralda, the Australian company which owns 50% of the mine, sought to downplay the disaster but has now gone into voluntary receivership, meaning it will be immune from damages claims.
Hungarian government spokespeople labelled Esmeralda's actions as "eco-colonisation". Dome's actions are no different. Neither are those of mining giant BHP, which owns the Ok Tedi mine that has destroyed the Fly River system in western PNG.
These, and many other Australian mining corporations operating abroad, take advantage of poor countries' desperate need for foreign investment and consequent minimal environmental and safety standards. These companies make a fortune out of such countries' disadvantaged position, create environmental catastrophes and go unpunished.
According to the Sydney-based environmental and human rights organisation, the Minerals Policy Institute (MPI), which monitors the big mining giants, there is no legislation in Australia under which these companies can be held responsible for the eco-terrorism they carry out. The only recourse after such disasters is enormously expensive civil suits in Australian courts.
The MPI is drafting legislation which would force mining companies to at least comply with environmental standards applicable in Australia. This would make such companies liable for disasters like those in PNG and Romania.
Such a demand for "extra-territorial" legislation is likely to provoke cries of blue murder from the companies and the federal government. But similar legislation applies against child sex tourism, bribery of foreign officials and war crimes. Those who commit crimes against the people and environment in the Third World should have to answer for them.