AS a member of the Dargues community I read - at first with hilarity, and then with growing horror - Unity’s claim that its “present development” at Dargues has been trouble-free for over a year.
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Dargues has been “under care and maintenance” since late 2013, with no road works, no construction, and no mining.
Is Unity truly putting up 2014 as proof it can develop the site with no accidents or pollution?
Even “under care and maintenance” the EPA has still had to order the company to remove material that might contaminate the site or the water by the end of February.
Nor can Unity claim Henty’s record as evidence of its ability to construct a safe tailings dam, as it was built by the company that merged with Barrick Gold.
Unity only bought it in 2009. It will close in a few months.
In 2013 Unity had five water pollution incidents.
In the last one, where an unregistered flocculent known to be lethal to fish and frogs was used, and only discovered during an EPA visit, the company refused to contact downstream water users to tell them to immediately quarantine their water, which forced the EPA to do so.
The company was also fined for a construction event, as well as having its box cut - the opening to what would have been the mine itself - collapse after normal rainfall, due to the steepness of the slope.
Unity, please don’t insult us by saying that the record of a site in “care and maintenance” proves anything.
A safe development is one which doesn’t repeatedly need EPA orders, and eventual prosecution.
Jackie French
Majors Creek
