Patrick Matbob




An attempt by Ramu Nickel Mine to get a decision to lift the court injunction against the construction of a Deep Sea Tailings Placement has been unsuccessful.
Ramu Nico Management company (MCC), with the support of the government, had applied for orders at the Madang National Court for a decision on two questions arising in the proceedings before the trial.
Justice David Cannings however, refused the defendants’ application for the court to determine these two questions separately from the trial.
MCC had asked the court to firstly decide whether the DSTP that was permitted under the repealed Environmental Planning Act (that had not commenced at the time the Environment Act 2000 came into force was an activity that would constitute an offence under the Environment Act 2000), is saved by the provisions of Section 136 of the Environment Act 2000.
It also wanted to know whether the dumping of tailings into the Basamuk and Astrolabe bays was lawful and did not constitute a public or private nuisance because the activity was in compliance with the Environment Act 2000 and approved under a valid law.
MCC had hoped the resolution of the questions may result in the early resolution of the entire proceedings and avoid considerable expenses and delay. However, Justice Cannings while acknowledging the first question could be determined, was not convinced that it would determine the outcome of the proceedings.
He said even if the court decided the question as contended by the defendants, it would still be necessary to decide on an alternative proposition raised by the plaintiffs.
“That is that even if the operation of the DSTP is permitted, the environmental harm that would result from it has not been permitted,” he said.
He said the plaintiffs wanted to argue that the operation of the deep sea tailings placement system was approved on the basis there would be no environmental harm. He said that could not be determined now.
He also described the defendants’ second question as vague and begged other questions adding that the plaintiffs wanted to argue at the trial that the proposed DSTP system would cause a certain type of environment harm, which would constitute a public and private nuisance.
He said they also wanted to argue that although MCC might be authorised to do certain things, including constructing the DSTP, it was not authorised to do the sort of environmental harm that the plaintiffs claim would be caused.
He said they were arguing that MCC must prove that it had statutory authorisation and that the nuisance or environmental harm was the inevitable consequence of the statutory authorization.
Meanwhile, the PNG government says it is determined to allow the use of the DSTP system unless ordered by the courts. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mines Dr Puka Temu said ‘all factors’ were considered before the DSTP system was approved.
Dr Puka, Environment and Conservation Minister Benny Allen, Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet and the local member for Rai Coast James Gau were at Bongu village to receive a petition from the local people.
The people had petitioned the government to stop the DSTP and use another method to dispose the tailings.
Dr Puka told the people they would soon get a report from the Scottish Association Marine Science (SAMS) on a study done a couple of years ago to determine the likely impact of DSTP in the Astrolabe Bay and Madang coast.
The study which was requested by government and funded by the European Union, had looked at the impact of DSTP in Lihir and Misima mines and was supposed to have provided a baseline study for Basamuk.
Dr Temu said they would pay up the K100,000 to get a copy of the SAMS report. He also described the copy of the SAMS report which one of the local petitioners had as a ‘draft’ and not the final copy.
He said the draft copy had been sent to the government for key agencies to include their input and that these would then be sent back to be incorporated into the final copy.
The copy of the SAMS report obtained by the petitioners says that the submarine tailings disposal by the Ramu Nickel Mine could have widespread environmental impact.
The report says the mine waste will not lie dormant on the sea floor, as claimed but will be widely dispersed in the Vitiaz Strait towards Madang and Karkar Island and across Astrolabe Bay.
For Lihir, the report finds     “an unambiguous demonstration that ongoing DSTP has major impacts on the abundance and community structure of meio- and macrofauna extending to water depths of at least 2020 metres”.At Misima, “significant tailings impacts are still apparent 13 years after the cessation of DSTP”.
When asked why DSTP system was being used when it was banned in other countries including China, Dr Temu said it was the best option for PNG considering the country’s unstable geography and being close to the Pacific Ring of Fire and highly prone to earthquakes.