Environmental Incidents And Fines
Environmental Incidents
The reporting and follow up of significant HSEC incidents is a crucial part of our approach to HSEC management. A significant environmental incident is an occurrence that has resulted in or had the potential to cause significant environmental harm. Such an incident is rated at level 3 or above on the BHP Billiton HSEC Consequence Severity Table. Read more: Incident Reporting and Investigation.
No actual significant environmental incidents were reported; however, there were 40 incidents that had the potential to cause significant environmental harm in FY2008. The incidents related to events that included uncontrolled discharges from tailings and sediment control dams due to high rainfall events, hydrocarbon and chemical spills via broken pipelines, tank failures or transport incidents and breaches of internal land clearing procedures.
Due to controls that were in place and mitigation actions taken, none of these incidents were classified as having caused significant environmental harm. Investigations were conducted to ensure the factors that contributed to the incident were identified so that additional controls could be implemented to prevent recurrence.
Accidental Discharges
Accidental discharges of hydrocarbons to either land or water totalled 126,701 litres for the reporting period, an increase from the previous year. This is largely due to a number of hydrocarbon spills from the Olympic Dam (Base Metals, Australia) and Mt Whaleback operations (Iron Ore, Australia) that totalled 52,252 and 18,655 litres respectively for the reporting period. At Olympic Dam, the overfilling of a storage tank resulted in 50,000 litres of diesel being released into a secondary containment that did not result in any soil or water contamination.
Accidental discharges of water and tailings totalled approximately 248 megalitres (ML). Most of these discharges came from our coal operations and related to an increase in water releases to the environment from our metallurgical coal group.
During the wet season (late 2007 through to early 2008) there was an unusually high rainfall in central Queensland, Australia. This led to extensive flooding in the region, including flooding of our mine pits. Mine dewatering to local streams has been carried out under strict monitoring.
In addition, there was a tailings spill of approximately 4.5ML at the Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada. A flow of water caused by the sudden melting of ice, transported tailings material from the tailings facility onto the surface of Fay Lake which was frozen at the time. The spill covered approximately 3 hectares with inert tailings material. Immediate implementation of a response plan enabled recovery of the material.
Environmental Fines
This year, we did not meet our goal of zero environmental fines or prosecutions. The following table outlines the environmental fines for this period. Note: Fines reported may relate to incidents occurring in previous years.
Environmental Fines FY2008
| Site | Customer Sector Group | Description | Fine (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cerro Colorado, Chile | Base Metals | On 1 June 2007, Cerro Colorado Mining Company received a fine from COREMA (Environmental State Agency) regarding breaches of its environmental permits. | 90,000 |
| Neptune, USA | Petroleum | On 12 November 2007 during a pipeline flush procedure, a blowback occurred allowing diesel mist to exit from the vent line. A very small volume of diesel (<1 litre) was discharged into water causing a minor hydrocarbon sheen. | 500 |
| Worsley Alumina, Australia | Aluminium | On 28 November 2007, Worsley Alumina received an Infringement Notice from the Shire of Boddington for burning forest residue without a permit between the 2nd and 11th of November 2007. | 86 |
| Navajo, USA | Energy Coal | Failure to protect topsoil from erosion after seeding and planting. | 584 |
| Navajo, USA | Energy Coal | Failure to report existing storage capacity of impoundment in annual inspection report. | 1,666 |
| Maya Niquel S.A., Guatemala | Stainless Steel Materials | In June 2008, The Ministry of Environment issued a resolution fining Maya Niquel S.A. for allegedly operating without a proper Environmental Impact Statement. Maya Niquel S.A. has not paid the fine and is appealing the matter. | 25,000 |
| Total | 117,835 | ||
Former Operations – Ok Tedi Mining Limited
BHP Billiton transferred all of its shareholding in OTML mine (Ok Tedi Mining Limited) to PNG Sustainable Development Program Company Limited in February 2002.
In December 2006, seven individual plaintiffs, said to be representing the members of seven clans from the vicinity of the Ok Tedi mine, obtained an order of the National Court of Papua New Guinea joining BHP Billiton Limited as a defendant to proceedings against the shareholders of Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) and its then managing director. The plaintiffs sought unspecified damages for numerous matters, including contamination of the environment and adverse affects to fishing, drinking water, irrigation of crops and washing and also seek US$3.75 billion in exemplary damages.
On 20 November 2007, the National Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims and ordered that their lawyer pay the costs of the defendants. The plaintiffs have lodged an appeal against that decision in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. BHP Billiton has lodged a notice of its intention to appear at the hearing of the appeal.
Read more: 2008 Update - PNG Sustainable Development Program