McArthur River Mine security bond reduction prompts legal challenge by Traditional Owners and environmental advocates.

ACCORDING TO THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER

Aboriginal leaders and environmentalists are suing the Northern  Territory’s deputy chief minister for allegedly illegally slashing the  security bond on a toxic Top End mine in a move they claim could saddle  taxpayers with a costly 1000-year clean-up job.

Litigation served late on Friday seeks to  force Mining and Industry Minister and deputy Labor leader Nicole  Manison to reverse her November decision to cut $120m from a $519m  last-ditch ­rehabilitation fund for Glencore’s McArthur River Mine.

Both  government departments and independent monitors had previously deemed  the half-a-billion dollar figure inadequate and warned that existing  mine-closure plans were unviable. Glencore itself has said the site  would need managing for hundreds of years.

McArthur  River Mine made international headlines when, in 2013, a waste rock  dump wrongly classified as “non-acid forming” spontaneously combusted,  spewing sulphur dioxide smoke into the atmosphere. There were concerns  about poisoned fish, and hundreds of cattle had to be shot over fears of  lead contamination.

Josephine Davey, a  traditional owner on the river downstream from the mine and the lead  applicant in the NT Supreme Court claim, said the case was a battle for  her country. “My ancestors spent their lives with that river — it is  everything to us, we’re all connected to it,” she said. “The government  made a decision that could affect our people for thousands of years. If  the mine walks away, that river will be gone, and so will we. I am  hurting so deeply. I worry for my children and their children. I am  fighting for my country.”

Jack Green,  another applicant, called the security bond an insurance policy. “We  don’t trust the mine to clean up the mess properly. We need the bond to  protect the river and our country if something goes wrong,” he said.

“The  bond wasn’t high enough before — it needed to be doubled at least. I  couldn’t believe it when I heard that the minister up in ­Darwin decided  to cut it.”

Casey Davey, a traditional  owner of areas near the mine, said reducing the bond made him angry.  “We need to know our community will be protected in the future,” he  said.

The McArthur River Mine in the  Gulf of Carpentaria has been dogged by controversy since it was  converted from underground to open-cut in the 2000s. In 2007,  traditional owners won a court battle against the project, but the  Martin government legislated to override that decision three days later.  Three Labor MPs crossed the floor at the time.

Former federal Labor environment minister Peter Garrett approved the open-cut conversion.

The  project has been opposed by NT Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy and  by Northern Land Council chief executive Marion Scrymgour when she was  an MP.

Ms Scrymgour is tipped as a candidate to replace retiring Labor MP Warren Snowdon.

Kirsty  Howey, head of the Environment Centre NT, said her ­organisation was  backing the case because “the regulation of this mine is a national  scandal”.

“The risks are escalating  every year, and the mine and the Northern Territory government simply  can’t keep pace with what’s unfolding,” she said. “We’re talking about  the potential destruction of an entire river system that has ­sustained  Aboriginal people in the region for 65,000 years.

“Apart  from the damage to the McArthur River, it is financial mismanagement by  the Northern Territory government. Ultimately, it’s the Northern  Territory government, and Australian taxpayers, that will be liable to  pay for the clean-up if the mine doesn’t.”

David  Morris, chief executive of the Environmental Defenders’ Office and a  lawyer working on the case, said regional communities were losing trust  in the NT government.

“The mine has  created a 1000-year problem in 10 years, and the government has allowed  that to occur,” he said. “Northern development cannot occur in a way  that is blind to future impacts, future costs and future burdens, which  will disproportionately rest with regional communities. This case  doesn’t seek to shut the mine down. It is about ensuring the Territory  has enough money to fix up the mine site if the company did walk away,  and protecting the community.”

The  federal approval for McArthur River Mine has effect until 3019. Mining  operations are expected to continue for about 16 years until 2037 and  tailings to be reprocessed until 2048.

A  spokeswoman for Ms Manison said the decision to reduce the size of the  security bond had been made after a rigorous independent assessment  process and was in line with legislation. Glencore did not provide  comment.