Environment officials report improvement in compliance cases

AN environment compliance audit was recently carried out for the Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) operation sites at the Kurumbukari mine and Basamuk refinery in Madang.
According to Ramu NiCo (MCC), the audit inspection was carried out by two officials from the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) to check on the implementation of the last major audit last year.
The CEPA officials included manager mining sector Robert Sine and principal scientist Gabriel Luluaki who last week visited the mine site at Kurumbukari then traveled to Basamuk.
At Kurumbukari, they inspected environment rehabilitation work, sedimentation ponds, chromite storage area and other areas identified within the company’s operational environment management plan and environment permit, as regulated by Conservation and Environment Protection Authority.
Sine noted during the preliminary inspection that cases of partial compliance or non-compliance in 2015 had been progressively improved by the company, while a few areas were currently being worked on.
Sine said another objective of the inspection was to assess Ramu NiCo Mining Ltd’s proposal for variation to its mining method of hydro-sluicing at Kurumbukari.
They were accompanied by site health safety and environment superintendent Moses Yaa.
“In the landfill area, we visited how Ramu NiCo manages its domestic waste and its ground water monitoring facilities,” Yaa said.
The CEPA officers also visited the industrial waste area to see how the company managed its waste disposal
He said the other area visited was the acid plant, particularly the emission stakes to see how it is monitored.