Right To Information denied on Savage River mine tailings dam spill

On 31st May this year the Tasmanian Public and Environmental Health Network submitted a Right To Information (RTI) application to the Department of Primary Industries Water and the Environment (DPIPWE) on the emissions from the tailings dam spill incidents that occurred some time between the 10th March and 15th March from the Grange Resources Savage River Mine.

here: http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php?%2Fweblog%2Farticle%2Falex-schaap-was-incorrect%2F

In late June TPEHN received a decision on our application saying that the information would be exempt under the RTI Act.

The reasons given were:

Decision Summary

I have decided that all of the information you have requested is exempt information under section 30(1)(a)(i) and section 30(1)(f) of the Act. The reasons for my decision are discussed below.

Information relating to enforcement of the law

Section 30 states that:

(1)Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be reasonably likely to –
(a) prejudice –
(i)the investigation of a breach or possible breach of the law; or
…….
(f) hinder, delay or prejudice an investigation of a breach or possible breach of the law
which is not yet complete.

The information requested is the subject of a formal investigation into possible breaches of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA) to which an investigator from the EPA’s investigation unit has been assigned. The investigation is being carried out in keeping with national standards, namely the Australian Government Investigation Standard. Files are kept under lock and key and all evidence remains confidential until the investigation and any resultant compliance action has been completed. In the course of the investigation, evidence and facts about the matter are considered in their entirety for compliance assessment.

To obtain the information relevant to your request from the EPA at this point in time would hinder, delay and be likely to prejudice their ability to complete the investigation in a timely and appropriate manner.

I note your intention, as expressed in your application, to “use the disclosed material to inform a community debate about appropriate operating procedures at mining facilities, monitoring, response and investigation protocols and remediation issues”. Such an action at this time would be likely to prejudice the investigation by possibly compromising due process and by not affording natural justice to the party under investigation.

Please note that section 30(1) is not subject to the public interest requirements listed in section 33 of the Act.

You may submit another application pursuant to the Act at such time as the investigation has been completed. The Department cannot advise you as to when that date may be. You are advised to monitor the EPA website (www.epa.tas.gov.au) for news and updates on this matter.

Today TPEHN contacted the RTI Officer at DPIPWE and was told that the EPA (a division of DPIPWE) has not finalised its investigation and that it is possible that such an investigation could take over one year.

It appears that the EPA is investigating activities that could be in breach of Grange Resources mine licence conditions. To our knowledge the statement from DPIPWE contained in their response above about the ongoing EPA investigation has not been released in the public domain. This is another example of obfuscation from a government department clearly reluctant to release information in the public interest about the activities of one of Tasmania’s biggest miners.

This is another clear indication of why the Tasmanian Greens and the Liberals need to evaluate the capacity of the EPA to independently regulate, monitor and police the activities of mining companies in Tasmania especially with regard to any new mining proposals.

*Pic: Before and after the spill: Pic from TT here: Grange Resources investigates tailings dam spill