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Traditional owners concerned at depth of Govt mine review

ABC INDIGENOUS NEWS Online

June 5, 2002 - The traditional owners of the Jabiluka and Ranger uranium mine sites surrounded by Kakadu National Park say a Northern Territory Government review of the mining operations will not go far enough.

The Resources Development Minister, Paul Henderson, is commissioning an independent technical review into the environmental regulations at both mine sites, operated by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA).

The Office of the Supervising Scientist released a report in April which said the internal management of ERA had failed, after seepage from an ore stockpile in February.

The Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation's Andy Ralph welcomes the Territory Government's response to public concerns, but he says it is not enough.

"We need a full and independent Senate inquiry," Mr Ralph said.

"You must also remember uranium is a nationally prescribed mineral and the Office of the Supervising Scientist is responsible for assessing the soundness of the science implored in the mine sites.

"Often they also test the results of the mining company and the NT Government so they should also be in the spotlight as well," Mr Ralph said.

Clip from ABC News Online

Further information:

• Environment (Jabiluka)
• Mirrar website
• Friends of the Earth (UK)
  
• Warning on Ranger mine leak
  April 24 2002 - ENERGY Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) has been warned it will be barred from allowing flow-off from its Ranger uranium ore stockpile into Kakadu National Park if it fails to source a new contamination leak.
• Greens back investigation
  April 19, 2002 -Following claims of serious deficiencies in the operation of the Ranger Uranium mine in Kakadu, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today he would support a Senate inquiry.
• Claims of environmental breaches threaten Ranger mine
  April 18, 2002 -MAXINE McKEW: The mining of uranium adjacent to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has vexed governments and environmentalists for decades.
• Uranium leak near Kakadu
  March 6, 2002 - A uranium leak at the Ranger Mine – which sent water contamination levels soaring to unprecedented levels – has prompted calls for a review of mine operator ERA.
• Few set out on road to ethics
  April 14, 2001 - The Guardian (UK) - Despite activists' clamour, key pension funds have yet to move towards socially responsible investment. Tony Levene reports.
• Gift of life
  February 14, 2001- The world's largest mining company has been given a chance to prove its green credentials and save Aboriginal homelands.
• A nuclear fall out
  July 21, 1999 - Australia threw a million dollars, its top civil servants and foreign embassies round the world into a campaign to prevent Kakadu national park - the backdrop to the film Crocodile Dundee - being declared "in danger" by UNESCO.
• UN condemns uranium mine
  December 1998 - An Aboriginal group has this month come a step closer to winning United Nations support for their campaign to save their land from a uranium mine.

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