Northern Territory and national environment groups have called for increased scrutiny of Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) following confirmation yesterday that the embattled Kakadu uranium miner has received further federal approval for an extension to the Ranger 3 Deeps project.

Cat Beaton and Justin Tutty from the Environment Centre NT attended the Alligator Rivers Region Advisory Committee (ARRAC) yesterday in Jabiru where ERA confirmed that no federal approvals would be needed for further tunneling and the mining of ore and processing of uranium to happen.

"It is unacceptable that this key elements of this project are advancing - without any environmental assessment or public input," said Cat Beaton from the Environment Centre NT. "The Ranger Uranium mine has a long history of leaks, spills and breaches and should be undergoing a higher level of public scrutiny and not less."

Three years ago the Environment Centre NT, the Australian Conservation Foundation and other groups argued that the Ranger 3 Deeps tunnel should be recognized as a piece of mining infrastructure. Mr Justin Tutty took part in this process and yesterday stated :

“We argued for the need for environmental assessment back then. Both Territory and Federal assurances have since been given that no uranium ore would be produced without further assessment – what we heard yesterday was a backflip,"

"We are calling on the federal government to commit clearly and now that any further development of the exploration tunnel or production of uranium of any size will require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)," concluded Mr Tutty.