Ramu impact study completed

 FINDINGS will soon be released by an independent Australian environmental consulting firm after it successfully conducted a bio-monitoring study along the Ramu River in Madang last month. 

RamuNiCo Management (MCC) Ltd (RNM) contracted Hydrobiology Pty Ltd from Dec 3 to14 to collect data on metal composition using fish and prawn tissues to compare with previous 

baseline studies and determine any inevitable impacts from the ongoing Kurumbukari mine construction. 

Earlier studies were done in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

The study was also a requirement of project Environment Management Plan which the Ramu project would use to control its activities to protect the environment.

The study covered vast areas and creeks including the Marum, Banu, Anagri, Eastern and Banap at Kurumbukari mine site and extended to Ramu River starting at Moimara upstream of the newly built RamuNiCo Bridge, near Brahman and ending at Banum in the Middle Ramu area. 

The sites along the Ramu River surveyed were Moimara, Banap, Sepu, Useruk, Bamun and the abandoned Bunapas sites.

Vast areas were covered in the studies to give assurance to the local people that RamuNiCo was committed to protecting the environment to minimise any inevitable impacts during its operation. 

The study group comprised RamuNiCo’s environmental health supervisor Billy Sari and Bruce Ambrose with Dylan Sortino from Hydrobiology Pty Ltd.