Impact mitigation at Freida mine

ENVIRONMENT

IN the past three articles on Frieda Copper Mine, I have discussed the mine, type of mine including background information.
That was followed by the article on mine benefits and then the environmental impacts.
In this final article I will be discussing how the negative impacts of mine development are mitigated or the means in which these impacts are mitigated or managed to an acceptable level.
There is no way in this world that any resource extraction project or any other project development will have no negative impacts, let alone a mine. I would very much appreciate if anyone can point me to a country or a mine that has been developed without having to face these issues.
I am only aware of the God’s garden, the Garden of Eden which is a perfect place without having to face these issues. Yes, well, almost except that forbidden fruit tree that God planted and when our grandparent touched it that brought about so many negative impacts to mankind to this day.
So how did God manage these negative impacts? Yes, he sent is only begotten son to die for us to mitigate these impacts and also fellow Jesus and the Bible teachings.
As for us in the mining sector, how do we control these environmental impacts? What are the ways in which these impacts are managed to acceptable levels? Let me discus these in the following paragraphs.

Legislation
Everything we do in this world is controlled by various acts or legislation. God had 10 commandments which he gave down to his apostle Moses which control human behaviour in according to the teachings of the Bible. So we also have various legislations in addition to the 10 commandments of God to control human behaviour in this world.
The main and central legislation that governs the operation of mines, oil and gas and many other developments that changes the original physical state of the environment is the Environment Act 2000.

Environment Act 2000
If you are so vocal about environmental issues, I strongly recommend that you get hold of a copy of the act. The act regulates all development activities from feasibility studies, exploration, operations to the mine closure.
Environment Act 2000 is a comprehensive piece of legislation as it is wide-ranging covering all facets of environment management and enforcement regimes. All resource extraction projects and other forms of developments that result in alterations or changes to the physical and social environment are subjected to the provisions of this act.
The act also provides the legal basis for the establishment of a range of mechanisms for the protection and management of the environment, including:
(a) Regulations
Five regulations have been developed under the act and include: Environment (Permits and Transitional) Regulation, Environment (Prescribed Activities) Regulation, Environment (Fees and Charges) Regulation, Environment (Water Quality Criteria) Regulation and Environment (Procedures) Regulation.
The requirements in each of the regulations, apart from Environment (Procedures) Regulation, are specific for a variety of pollution control purposes.
(b) Environment permit
The permitting process would enable CEPA to have direct control of activities that may impact on the environment. The permit is a tool that is employed by the Authority to have an early input into the design of a project to ensure that the overall objectives of the Environment Act would be complied with. Specific discharge conditions are also incorporated into the permit to ensure that those objectives will be met.
(c) Enforcement
Enforcement tools available under the act include issuance of notices in situations where an environmental problem has occurred or is likely to occur. Depending on the nature of the problem, the appropriate notice is served on the person who is effectively in charge of the premises requiring an evasive action or clean up after an incident has occurred. On the whole, the regulatory framework will enable CEPA to effectively discharge its statutory responsibilities in ensuring that activities with potential for causing environmental harm are adequately regulated in order to promote sustainable socioeconomic developments while protecting and maintaining environmental quality.

All development activities that will result in the alteration of the environment or that will change the physical, biological, chemical and social state of the environment are subjected to the provisions of this act. All activities are categorized (prescribed activities) into different classes or levels. These are Level 1, Level 2 A or 2 B and Level 3 activities. That requires developers to obtain appropriate environment permits and approvals of any other type from the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority before executing their projects. All forms of projects from mining, oil and gas, forestry and logging, agriculture projects, land clearing and infrastructural development, road construction, fish processing industries development or any other form of developed activity are categorized activity under the provisions of this act and developers are required to obtain appropriate environment permits and any other related approvals from Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (Cepa).
The information guidelines and technical guidelines are also part of the Act. These guidelines are to assist both the CEPA officers and the proponents in the environment permit application and assessment process. The information guidelines on sewage treatment and disposal, roads and bridges, waste discharge permit, Environment Impact Assessment & Environment Impact Statement, Environment Inception Report and air discharges.
Frieda River Copper Mine has been subjected to the provisions of the act. For detail I suggest that you read the Environment Act 2000 provisions and made your opinion of the impacts of the mine.
The Bougainville Copper Mine was developed much earlier before the Environment Act 2000 was formulated and it was the first mine that pave the way for improvements in legislation to control these activities. It would and is not fair to the Government of Papua New Guinea and the mine developer PanAust to compare what happened at that time to the current operations at Frieda River Copper Mine.

Environmental quality standards
Environmental standards are provided in the act on the levels of discharges and acceptable levels of pollution. These levels are consistent with international standards including WHO standards. All these mitigation measures are included in the Environment Permit. Frieda River Copper Mine has been formulated and developed within the provisions of the Environment Act 2000. The Environment Permit Application after going through the assessment process is now before the Environment Council for its deliberation and action, approval with conditions or rejection and request for improvements in its developments.

Monitoring requirements
Monitoring requirement is also provided for in the act and is built into the environment permit. It requires the developer PanAust to carry out monitoring and reporting to the Government of Papua New Guinea, through Conservation and Environment Protection Authority. The monitoring is done to identify noncompliance and take appropriate corrective measures at the earliest time possible before it becomes more severe. The Government of Papua New Guinea is also required under the provisions of the Act to monitor the activities of the mine, especial against the environment permit conditions. Monitoring is done by the government to ensure that the permit holder (PanAust ) is operating within the environment permit conditions and if not appropriate corrective measures are enforced on to the developer to make improvements or employ corrective technologies.
Technologies
Technologies are available to mitigate the environment impact issues. These technologies have been developed and implemented all over the world and are available for use. There is no perfect way but combinations of technologies can provide the means to reduce the impacts of mining.
Points
There is no perfect way to develop a mine. The development of mines has the negatives and the positives, the sacrifices and the benefits. We need to look at these developments in a holistic way. The idea is to minimize negative impacts and maximises benefits.
People have a right to development benefits and should not be deprived of their rights to benefits and not for reasons and interests of others outside of the project area. The negative views of the few within or outside of the project area should not deny the rights of the majority of the landowners in the project area.