A West Australian farmer and ecologist has described mining giant Alcoa as negligent following its unauthorised construction of a pipeline, which resulted in the threat of toxic chemicals leaking into a drinking water dam in the South-West.
The WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation issued the company with a prevention notice on Thursday, following concerns around the pipeline, built as part of a PFAS treatment plant at its Willowdale bauxite mine, about 130 kilometres south of Perth.
The department said there was a "real and not remote" possibility Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — used in firefighting foam — could leak into the Samson Dam which supplies drinking water to the nearby town of Waroona.
The Department has ordered the pipeline be cleaned out within two days of the notice being issued.
Kingsley Dixon, restoration ecologist and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre for Mine Site Restoration, said it was even more concerning given Alcoa recently came under scrutiny for contaminated runoff from a bauxite mine near the Serpentine Dam, which supplies almost 20 per cent of the city's drinking water.
"There seems to be a pattern of behaviour, which is a major concern for water … and it's unclear the degree to which that has gone into the aquatic ecosystems," he said.
"PFAS doesn't degrade. It's one of those compounds that sits in the environment and we still don't fully understand its broader impact, particularly in aquatic community."
Professor Dixon said that as a Waroona resident, he was particularly alarmed, saying these were "controllable actions" and due diligence was needed to ensure environmental care and consultation was done with the community.
"I can only imagine, if your kids are swimming in that wonderful area, you wouldn't want to know [there might've been] a bit of a leak," he said.
"I'd be very comfortable to say that this is environmental negligence.
"There is no other way to explain it, and by international standards, if you're in any other place, such as the UK or the EU, this would be very severely dealt with."
Pipeline 'reflects poorly' on Alcoa
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Roger Cook described the revelations on Friday as concerning and disturbing, and said it "reflects poorly on the performance of Alcoa".
"We expect Alcoa to rectify that situation as a matter of urgency to secure the quality of drinking waters, and of course, the safeguarding the environment," he said.
"That's why we have such a stringent environmental regulation regime to make sure that we can pick up on these issues, we can pull them into line when they do step off the line and make sure that they undertake their business properly."
Alcoa says it needed to act swiftly due to the risk of overflow from winter stormwater and it informed the department before the pipe was constructed and used.
The company says it discovered small concentrations of PFAS at their Huntly and Willowdale bauxite mines in 2019 and immediately stopped using the foams containing those compounds.
The company says it also implemented containment measures, including transporting and treating potentially contaminated water.
"All controls were thoroughly investigated and risk assessed, with consideration of various transportation methods, including moving water out of the Samson drinking water catchment via a sealed and monitored pipeline or trucking options," a spokeswoman said.
"Transportation via the pipeline was found to be the safest and most effective method of transportation."
Alcoa maintains it only used the pipe for a two-week period last August and no leaks had been detected.
Wider mining operations under review
Mr Cook stopped short of saying whether or not the latest development at Willowdale would impact the government's decision on the company's future mining operations.
The bauxite miner each year submits a rolling five-year plan to the government for approval.
The latest plan moves its operations closer to the Serpentine Dam, which supplies almost 20 per cent of Perth's drinking water.
It has prompted greater scrutiny of how Alcoa manages potential run-off that could contaminate supplies.
"I'll await for the advice from the department in terms of the updating of the mine management plan. Obviously, this is a disappointing development," Mr Cook said.
Forest for life convener Jess Beckerling says the latest development shows Alcoa can not be trusted.
"Alcoa has piped a toxic chemical over a drinking water dam without approval and then not been forthcoming about having done so," she said.
"Clearly this shows there needs to be a transparent and high-level assessment of their activities and their plans."
WA Forest Alliance has referred Alcoa's mine management plan to the Environmental Protection Agency for review.
Professor Dixon has also questioned whether Alcoa can be trusted with its other mine developments and is imploring the government to look at penalties.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation says companies can face fines of up to $100,000 for violation of section 53 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act, which relates to the discharge of waste.
Watershed moment, says expert
"I think this is really the watershed for the state government and the people of Western Australia to really begin dictating to the company, the standards that we expect the company to operate on, that they are inviolable," Professor Dixon said.
"It needs an entirely new approach to the way this company operates.
"It's also a precedent to all other companies that are operating in the mining sector.
"These companies operate often in pristine natural environments, such as the Jarrah forests, such as South 32 that operate on bauxite to the east of Alcoa, these are magnificent environments that we were proud to have as Western Australians.
"We have to continue to be proud to have them into the future, not have them as essentially the Chernobyls of the South-West."
