Environmentalists have dismissed a pledge by alumina giant Alcoa not to mine near a tourist town home to ancient Jarrah forests.
The company says it will not seek to mine within three kilometres of Dwellingup, in the Darling Range southeast of Perth, committing to an exclusion zone across its bauxite mining lease more than four times the size of Rottnest Island.
The 8,344-hectare zone will connect with other no-mining areas, helping to protect 5000ha of forest and more than 30km of the Bibbulmun Track.
Alcoa said any potential future mining would “predominantly be to the east” and remain subject to environmental approvals.
The U.S.-listed company operates two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in Western Australia’s south.
It is seeking approval to clear more than 9000ha of forest and expand its Huntly mining area into new regions while increasing production at its Pinjarra refinery.
The proposal remains before WA’s Environmental Protection Authority.
Alcoa Australia president Matt Reed said the no-mining pledge for Dwellingup followed extensive studies and consultation.
“We hope this decision provides greater certainty about our intentions in a prospective mineral area and demonstrates our willingness to protect important environmental and social values,” Mr Reed said.
“We respect the Dwellingup area has immense lifestyle, ecotourism and forest recreational values that people want to continue to enjoy now and into the future.”
But the Wilderness Society claims Alcoa is “greenwashing”, saying there was little to suggest it had ever planned on mining the area.
“Their social license is already on shaky ground with communities across Western Australia voicing their concerns over water, wildlife and forest protection,” WA campaigns manager Tim Clifford said on Tuesday.
“Repackaging inaction as environmental conservation is simply not enough.”
The environmental regulator earlier this year found a pipeline built by Alcoa without approval was at risk of leaking toxic chemicals into a dam that supplies drinking water in the state’s southwest.
It said the pipeline was likely to contain wastewater contaminated with PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” because they are very slow to break down and are associated with a range of serious health issues.
Alcoa was ordered to urgently flush out the pipeline, which crosses the Samson Dam, about 100km south of Perth.
The company at the time said the use of a sealed and monitored pipeline was found to be the safest and most effective way of transporting the water.
It said the pipeline was only used for a short time in 2022 and defended its 60-year history of mining bauxite in WA’s southwest without “any negative impact on public drinking water supply.”
