Tasmanian Farmer locks the gate on miners

A Tasmanian farmer has locked his gate to any mining companies that may want to conduct mineral exploration or potential mining operations on his 1200 acre property in the north of the state.

Last week the farmer’s property was flown over by a helicopter doing surveys for mining purposes in the Mole Creek Valley.

Isla MacGregor said: “The farmer contacted the Tasmanian Public and Environmental Health Network (TPEHN) which recently joined the national Lock the Gate Alliance which campaigns against inappropriate mining in Australia.”

‘The mission of the Lock the Gate Alliance is to protect Australia’s natural, environmental, cultural and agricultural resources from inappropriate mining and to educate and empower all Australians to demand sustainable solutions to food and energy production.’

http://www.lockthegate.org.au/

TPEHN applauds Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s recent statements during an interview with Alan Jones:

“Miners should not go onto farms, if they’re not wanted.

“It’s very wrong and they shouldn’t be going onto land where the relevant land owners don’t want them. And it is as simple as that.”

http://soundcloud.com/lockthegatealliance/alan-jones-interviews-tony

“TPEHN will be contacting the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association and all members of Parliament to begin discussions about this most important issue for public health in rural communities and the ongoing viability of the agricultural sector in Tasmania.” said Isla MacGregor.

• In Tasmania, they came, they mined, they left … 681 times

The downside legacy of mining in Tasmania from the days before modern environmental management and rehabilitation is 681 abandoned mines throughout the state.

They date back to mines that operated in the 1890s and up to the 1970s. Of those 681 abandoned mines, 215 contain rock that is potentially acid-producing.

Board member of the Environment Protection Authority Louise Cherrie told the Tasmanian Minerals Conference today that each mine with the ingredients for acid drainage potentially impacts on soil, groundwater and surface water. Only one of the legacy sites, Savage River Mines, has remediation funding.

“It is a phenomenon of the past,” she said. “Today mining companies have to meet the full cost of rehabilitation in advance through payments into a trust fund.”

It was a point underlined by Minerals Council of Tasmania executive director Terry Long.

“We have finance assurance bonding. We can’t let this happen again.”

— Tasmanian Public and Environmental Health Network

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pollution_Information_Tasmania

*Pic: From Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources letter on the Mole Creek Airborne Geophysical Survey