Water, Environmental Regulation Department slaps Alcoa with notice over South West dam waste discharge fears

Alcoa of Australia has been served official notice by authorities after it was discovered pumping PFAS-tainted water over a drinking water dam in WA’s South West without approval, with the threat of contamination deemed “a real and not remote possibility”. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation on Thursday handed the company a prevention notice — which is issued when waste discharge is managed outside of approved or licensed works, and is “likely to cause pollution or environmental harm”. The department said it had received a complaint about activities at its Willowdale bauxite mine, east of Waroona and Cookernup in the Darling Scarp, prompting inspectors to go to the site on February 23. They found Alcoa had built a pipeline and funnelled toxic PFAS-contaminated waste over Water Corporation’s Samson Brook dam despite a works application still being “under assessment”. The man-made chemicals are linked to old firefighting foam, used from the 1970s to the mid-2000s to smother blazes at sites including airports, military air bases, firefighting training centres and fuel storage facilities. “The Samson Brook catchment is a significant human health receptor and there are various ecological receptors adjacent to the constructed and operated infrastructure,” inspector Paul Newel said in the notice. “These include aquatic and riparian fauna recorded in the Samson Brook Catchment area and a conservation park which runs adjacent to the constructed PFAS pipeline. “I consider that a release of PFAS-contaminated water through pipeline joints or loss of pipeline integrity to be a real and not remote possibility and that such an event will cause emissions which will cause a direct or indirect alteration of the environment to its detriment or degradation or to the degradation of an environmental value. “I reasonably suspect that a condition of pollution is likely to arise.” Mr Newel said Alcoa must not operate the pipeline other than to comply with requirements of the notice including purging it of PFAS contamination within two days. An Alcoa spokeswoman said the company had acted proactively to ensure the drinking water supply was not negatively affected by water containing low concentrations of PFAS at its mining operations. “We have worked with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation since the presence of trace levels of PFAS were identified,” she said. “This includes informing the department prior to constructing water storage facilities and a pipeline to mitigate potential risks to the Samson catchment ahead of last winter. “We will continue to work with DWER to ensure our operations do not negatively impact public drinking water supply.” The notice comes after DWER was slammed in a damning Auditor-General report in December for failing in key duties such as performing site visits and basic environmental regulation practices. Caroline Spencer’s report also claimed company breaches took a backseat on compliance officers’ to-do lists after they were reassigned to support fast-tracking mining approvals. The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety also faced criticism in Ms Spencer’s searing review. The shift in priorities was part of a State Government strategy and meant almost half of all DWER compliance officers were reassigned to support approvals. “I am concerned our environment is not currently adequately protected. Entities do not have a comprehensive approach to enforcement,” Ms Spencer had said. Under the State’s Environmental Protection Act 1986, Alcoa may be able to appeal the notice. From Alcoa’s two bauxite mines — deep in jarrah forrest — and three alumina refineries in WA, the company produces nearly 50 per cent of Australia’s alumina. The company claims to have rehabilitated about 77 per cent of mined land each year and in 2021 announced a goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.