Following Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) opening a public comment period on conducting an impact assessment into Alocoa’s mines, the miner has committed to continuing to operate safely and in line with Government agreements.
Alcoa Australia president Matt Reed said the company is focused on securing certainty for its current and future operations.
“We firmly believe we can continue to operate safely and responsibly under both our existing robust statutory approvals framework set under our WA State Agreements and the more contemporary EPA approvals framework we are committed to transitioning to over a reasonable timeframe,” Reed said.
The miner is currently increasing controls to protect drinking water as it mines near the Serpentine Basin, home to about 18 per cent of Perth’s drinking water supplies.
“There must be a reasonable transition period during which we will continue to work collaboratively with various stakeholders and regulators to meet evolving requirements and expectations,” Reed said.
“We are increasing controls to protect drinking water, stepping up mine site rehabilitation and enhancing the management of social impacts including recently announced no mining zones around the towns of Dwellingup and Jarrahdale.
“We are proud of our environmental track record and economic and social contributions to WA over the last 60 years and firmly believe we can continue to operate safely and responsibly.”