Thursday 2 September 2004
Sydney Morning Herald

Longstanding concerns about management have unfortunately been borne out.

About 10.30pm on March 23 this year a pipe containing contaminated water at the Ranger uranium mine was mistakenly fitted to a drinking water pipe. Workers who showered after coming off the night shift noticed the water was of poor quality. The next morning, workers on a different shift drank three or four litres of water containing 400 times the legal limit of uranium. They learned the water was polluted only when they read a newspaper report on March 25. Altogether 28 workers drank or showered in the tainted water. The symptoms they have suffered include headaches, general aches, lethargy and diarrhoea, as well as the psychological stress of not knowing what the long-term effects of the incident will be.

The Darwin-based Office of the Supervising Scientist monitors uranium mining at Ranger, which borders Kakadu National Park. Supervising Scientist Arthur Johnson, who has spent five months investigating the incident, said the men were unlikely to suffer long-term harm. But his report, which was released in the Senate this week, was critical of mine operator Energy Resources of Australia. The report said ERA had provided insufficient resources for radiation protection and failed to employ enough qualified workers, while its methods of decontaminating people and equipment were inadequate. "I came to the conclusion that a degree of complacency had crept in," Dr Johnson said. The observation borders on understatement. The number of incidents that have occurred at the mine since it opened in 1981 are, in themselves, cause for serious concern. More than 120 leaks, spills and breaches of regulations have been reported during its operation. Dr Johnson also gave details of a previously unreported episode in which a man and his children were exposed to radiation during the transportation of contaminated material. Last November and in January and March this year, contaminated vehicles were allowed to leave Ranger without radiation clearance certificates.

This week the Ranger mine, which is owned by global mining giant Rio Tinto, was given until September 13 to make health and safety improvements or be shut down. In the meantime, operations have been suspended. The Northern Territory Justice Department is also moving to launch its first prosecution against ERA for licence breaches. These measures are worthwhile, if overdue. It is disgraceful that 28 workers had to be endangered before a stricter regime was enforced at the mine, which borders a World Heritage Area. The Mirrar people, who are the traditional owners of Kakadu, said in a statement that Dr Johnson's report vindicated their own "long-held and publicly expressed concerns at inadequate management practices at Ranger". Radiation safety mistakes are funny in The Simpsons but appalling in real life. The mine has six or seven years to run; no more breaches should be tolerated.