Cabinet defies EPA call to block uranium mine

The Barnett Government has ignored the advice of its environmental watchdog to approve plans to develop WA’s biggest uranium deposit.

In a move that could wedge Labor ahead of the March 11 State election, the Government yesterday used the last Cabinet meeting of its term to finalise environmental approvals for Cameco’s Yeelirrie yellowcake mine in the Goldfields.

The Environmental Protection Authority in August found the proposal was environmentally unacceptable because of the threat it posed to rare species of microscopic underground shrimp-like creatures.

Environment Minister Albert Jacob rejected a bid in December by Canadian-based Cameco to overturn the EPA determination. Mr Jacob stood by the Cabinet decision, saying the Government had to take in broader considerations than just environmental ones and the approval came with strict conditions.

Cameco must conduct surveys to find out whether stygofauna — tiny invertebrates that live in groundwater — affected by the mine were found elsewhere.

The approval will add to pressure on the Opposition, which is against uranium mining in WA but has vowed not to stop projects that already have final State approval.

Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said Labor would not approve any new uranium mines but it would allow those “already under construction or granted final State approvals”.

Under Cameco’s plans, the company wants to produce up to 7500 tonnes of uranium oxide a year at the Wiluna mine it bought from BHP Billiton $US430 million near Wiluna.

Cameco’s Australian boss Brian Reilly hailed the decision as a “significant step forward” for the proposal. Mr Reilly did not say when the project would proceed amid a languishing uranium price.

At the time of its August determination, the EPA noted up to 73 species were identified by Cameco at the site and the proposed mine would risk one or more of them to becoming extinct given 11 were not known elsewhere. As a result the proposal should not be allowed to proceed.

Conservation Council of WA director Piers Verstegen said the minister’s decision had set a “shocking” precedent that went against the wishes of the local community.

“The approval goes against the advice of the EPA, against the wishes of the local community, and against the economic reality that this project is not feasible,” he said.

“This decision sets a shocking new precedent for WA environmental law – a Minister knowingly allowing the extinction of multiple unique wildlife species which exist nowhere else on Earth.”