Papua New Guinea's battle for environmental survival

Closing the mine could lead to mass unemployment in the region

From Correspondent Gary Strieker

January 21, 2000
Web posted at: 12:22 p.m. HKT (0422 GMT)

OK TEDI, New Guinea (CNN) -- An ecological disaster in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea has claimed a river and many local residents as its victims.

But there could be other casualties -- an entire town, and possibly, the very cause of the problem -- the copper mine.

"The environment for people is life. People depend on the land, on the river system for their living, their survival," says local church leader Blaisus Twik.

VIDEO CNN's Gary Strieker reports on the environmental devastation to a river in Papua New Guinea from copper mining. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Pacific island nations

And no one disputes mistakes were made. For 16 years the Ok Tedi copper mine, one of the world's largest, has discharged a steady flow of waste rock and mill tailings into the Ok Tedi River.

Experts say there's no evidence of serious toxic pollution but the sediment is carried hundreds of miles downstream, building up on the riverbed causing flooding and smothering vegetation over large areas; a catastrophe for people who live along the river.

People in the region of Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea are reliant on the local river system

"The best solution, from a purely environmental point of view, would probably be to close the mine," Roger Higgins of Ok Tedi Mining Ltd told CNN.

The mining company says the environmental problem wasn't supposed to have happened because original plans called for the tailings to be contained in a dam.

However, the dam was destroyed by a landslide before it was finished.

The company is now trying to minimize the damage by dredging sediment from the river.

"We've done a great deal of work, environmental work, study work, dredging work on the river and we're really disappointed that we haven't come up with a better environmental solution to the problems we have," Higgins said.

The discharge from the copper mine into the Ok Tedi river has caused flooding and smothered vegetation

Ok Tedi Mining Ltd pays compensation to hundreds of people affected by the flooding but satisfaction has not been absolute.

"We need adequate compensation," provincial government spokesman Menesah Kambong said.

There are also concerns that growing environmental liabilities could force the mine to close costing thousands of jobs and putting the town and the economy of the region at risk.

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