Disasters in Papua New Guinea - Mining Disasters in Papua New Guinea, Natural Disasters in Papua New Guinea, Ok Tedi Environmental Disaster (Paperback)

Chapters: Mining Disasters in Papua New Guinea, Natural Disasters in Papua New Guinea, Ok Tedi Environmental Disaster, Mount Lamington, 2008 Papua New Guinea Floods. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 18. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Ok Tedi environmental disaster, due to the annual discharge of millions of tons of mining waste, has harmed the environment and livelihood of 50,000 people who live on or near the Ok Tedi River in Papua New Guinea. This mining pollution, in part due to the collapse of the Ok Tedi tailings dam system, has been the subject of class action litigation naming Ok Tedi Mining Limited and BHP Billiton brought by local landowners, particularly villagers downstream from Ok Tedi in the Fly River system in the Middle Fly District and the southern and central areas of the North Fly District who believe the effect on their livelihood from this disaster far outweighs the benefits they have received from the mine's presence in their area. BHP has since dissolved its 52% ownership in the mining company OTML. In 1999, BHP's CEO, Paul Anderson admitted that the Ok Tedi Mine was "not compatible with our environmental values." The Asia Times interpreted this as an admission of "major environmental damage." The mine operators discharge 80 million tons of tailings, overburden and mine-induced erosion into the river system each year. The discharge caused widespread and diverse harm, both environmentally and socially, to the 50,000 people who live in the 120 villages downstream of the mine. Chemicals from the tailings killed or contaminated fish, however they are still edible by the people of the surrounding villages. However, fish counts decrease closer to the mine. The dumping changed the riverbed, causing a relatively deep and slow river to become shallower and deve...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=11156673