EDO LawJam was held on 22 August 2016.: ‘Cleaning up after miners walk away: Are you ok with footing the bill?’
The key points identified by our three speakers were:
- Ensure experienced, independent environmental departmental officers are employed by the Department and enlisted to assist with environmental management of abandoned mine sites;
- Independent assessment of what bonds should be;
- Provide high, strict standards for rehabilitation companies should have working towards;
- Invest more money into research for solutions;
- Change the planning system so that miners are forced to plan for closure from the point of application, and that the miners can be held to implement their plans;
- Cash bonds are required by the government up front, can be over first 1-5 years of operation if need be – use interest to fund rehabilitation of abandoned mines;
- Require progressive rehab, with strict standards that are enforceable if they are not achieved – ensure this is quantified percentage of disturbance area each year;
- Work to engage the public so that they are informed of the issue;
- Put systems in place to avoid regulatory capture by the industry.
