Australia has agreed to review a human rights complaint against Rio Tinto stemming from pollution at the Panguna mine site in Bougainville.
The decision means Rio Tinto will now enter talks to mediate the dispute with the landowners and the Papuan New Guinea and Bougainville governments - decades after the mine was shut down following a civil war.
Filed by the Human Rights Law Centre, the complaint alleges a massive volume of mine waste pollution left behind at the former Panguna mine is putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
The scars of the Panguna mine’s pollution remain visible along river banks - the result of copper pollution and mining tailings from the mine upstream.
Keren Adams, legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said Rio Tinto must take responsibility for the continued “deteriorating” and “dangerous” conditions confronting communities.
Rocks coloured grey-blue on the river bank - the result of copper pollution and mining tailings. Source: Stefan Armbruster/SBS News
“We’re hoping this process … will yield the urgent solutions to the problems that these communities so desperately need,” she told SBS News.
“It is not at all an understatement to say if something isn’t done about this problem - it’s highly likely that further people will lose their lives.”
The Panguna mine in Bougainville was one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines, generating an estimated $2 billion USD during the 1970s and 1980s.
Rio Tinto says it takes the complaint about environmental and human rights concerns “seriously” and has committed to further discussions over resolving the dispute.
“Whilst we do not wholly accept the claims in the complaint, we are aware of the deteriorating mining infrastructure at the site and surrounding areas, and acknowledge that there are environmental and human rights considerations.
"We are ready to enter into discussions with the communities that have filed the complaint."
The Australian OECD National Contact Point in the Department of Treasury, which has accepted the complaint for further consideration, will oversee the consultation process.
Bougainville's rivers and lands were devastated by mining waste. Source: Stefan Armbruster/SBS News
The AusNCP holds the power to mediate disputes as well as issue findings on whether companies have breached their obligations under OECD Guidelines and recommend actions to address any breaches that have occurred.
Theonila Roka-Matbob, one of 156 resident complainants and an MP for the Ioro constituency where the mine is located, welcomed the Australian government's pledge to undertake further investigation.
“The communities in my area have been living in a terrible situation for a long time now,” she said.
“We hope that Rio Tinto will now commit to action to address the urgent problems our people are facing.”
Bougainville residents have asked Rio Tinto to fund an independent environmental and human rights impact assessment of the mine and contribute to a fund to address long-term rehabilitation efforts, which would likely be in the order of tens of millions of dollars.
Theonila Roka Matbob standing in front of an area destroyed by mine waste flooding. Source: Human Rights Law Centre
The dispute comes amid another mining controversy in Australia - Rio Tinto’s destruction of the sacred 46,000 year old Juukan Gorge cave site.
Ms Adams said the Panguna mine and Juukan Gorge incidents showed a disconnect between Rio Tinto’s rhetoric and the reality experienced by Indigenous landowners.
“There is a fundamental gap there in what they say, what they do, what’s happening and what communities are experiencing on the ground,” she said.
She said the Human Rights Law Centre did not rule out further legal action if an agreement could not be reached.
Bougainville overwhelmingly voted to break away as an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea last year, with debate still open over whether the mine could be reopened to enhance its economic security.
Rio Tinto no longer holds a stake in the mine site.
