Savage River

Savage River

Meanwhile, a subsidiary of IC was taking over the Savage River mine in Tasmania, Australia, a year after it was officially closed in 1995, bequeathing to both community and environment some serious acid mine drainage problems. Technically, the mine is now owned by Australian Bulk Minerals (ABM) a subsidiary of Goldamere Pty Ltd - itself owned by ICC. Friedland promised not only to revive the mine, extending its life by thirty years and employing 260 people, but also carry out a feasibility study on siting a pig iron plant, to replace the old pelletising plant. However, closer scrutiny of the small print in his company's agreement with theTasmanian government (The Goldamere Pty Ltd Agreement Act 1996) reveals that the Friedland engineered "indemnity without limitation" in regard to "any liability for past pollution or site degradation or any future pollution generated as a result of past activities" (my italics) [Goldamere Ptly Ltd Agreement Act, Hobart, 1996].

The state government then promptly waived regulatory standards on the grounds that it was impossible to distinguish between past and current pollution: ABM was simply to uphold "Best Practice in Environmental Management" (BPEM) [Goldamere ibid].

The Tasmanian Greens (Green Party), briefed on Friedland's history by Australia's Mineral Policy Institute and others, tried to get the agreement annulled. Defending ABM, Gordon Toll (an ex-Rio Tinto mining executive who appears to have been important in lending credibility to "Toxic Bob" as he penetrated the Asia-Pacific region) claimed the company had never tried to hide from the state government facts about Friedland's past, or that of Summitville. But, if the Tasmanian Department of the Environment had relied solely on Toll's briefing it would have got entirely the wrong end of the stick: "It is a matter of record from the Canadian courts that the USEPA are liars, they are thugs", declared Toll in a radio interview in June 1997. "...There is no environmental disaster at Summitville - there was never any leakage of cyanide at Summitville, there has been no acid mine drainage at the Summitville mine since the 1890's" [Gordon Toll interview with Annie Warburton, ABC Radio 7ZR, 7/4/97, see also Mining Monitor, MPI, Sydney, June 1997].