Alcoa faces more federal scrutiny over Willowdale mine clearing

Bauxite miner Alcoa’s operations in Western Australia’s northern jarrah forest face more regulatory scrutiny, with documents revealing its Willowdale mine is currently being investigated over land clearing.

The investigation by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water was noted in a ministerial talking points document prepared in February as the government announced the miner would be hit with a $55 million penalty for clearing without proper approvals.

The document, publicly released under Freedom of Information laws, said the department was “investigating ongoing land clearing at Alcoa’s Willowdale mine”, which a department spokesperson confirmed was continuing on Friday.

“The department does not comment on matters that may be subject to ongoing investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Alcoa had been made to pay $40 million for “permanent ecological offsets”, and to deliver a biodiversity management plan and fund independent auditing, under enforceable undertakings agreed to after it cleared jarrah forest for its Huntly and Willowdale mines without proper approvals between 2019 and 2025.

That clearing of 318 hectares while under investigation was described as a “deliberate repeat breach” in the talking points document.

Alcoa also agreed to spend a further $15 million to fund conservation and research programs focused on the northern jarrah forest, related to another breach in 2023.

Alcoa’s mining at Huntly and Willowdale began before the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 was implemented, and the miner had continued its operations under the belief that exemptions continued to be applied, the document said.

An Alcoa spokesperson said the company’s mining activities had historically been undertaken with approvals under WA legislation, and as part of its work to modernise approvals the company would undertake a strategic assessment of current and future mining activities through to 2045.

The spokesperson said Alcoa voluntarily signed the enforceable undertakings to acknowledge this historical clearing without admitting any breach of the act.

Alcoa had been operating under two grandfathering provisions under the EPBC Act, the spokesperson said, with a section relating to Willowdale unchanged under the government’s recent revisions.

“Our Willowdale operations align with an existing provision of the Act,” the spokesperson said.

“We are cooperating with the regulator on a review of activities at the mine.”

At the time of the February announcement, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said Alcoa’s enforceable undertaking was “the largest conservation-focused commitment of its kind”.

Watt also said the company would be allowed to continue to clear and mine in the jarrah forest during the 18-month strategic assessment of its entire Perth operations – a move that drew the ire of conservationists.

Following the revelation of the ongoing Willowdale investigation on Friday, Conservation Council of WA executive director Matt Roberts said it was “beyond comprehension” Alcoa was allowed to keep mining in the Northern Jarrah Forest.

“At what point do they hold Alcoa to account?” Roberts said.

“We can’t rely on rehabilitation and offsets that have both failed to deliver the protections needed.

“This is the world’s only jarrah forest and West Australians have had enough of the consistent clearing and decline of this precious and iconic biodiversity hotspot.”

WA Forest Alliance director Jess Boyce said the federal government had been questioning Alcoa’s right to mine since 2011, but allowed thousands of hectares to be cleared during that time – and continues to do so.

“The Northern Jarrah Forests are being pushed to the brink by multiple mines and climate change,” she said.

“These forests cannot afford to wait for another closed-door or lengthy investigation to determine their fate; the details of this additional investigation must be released, and the National Interest Exemption must be revoked immediately before it is too late.”

That exemption was cited in February when Watt paved the way for Alcoa to continue mining at Huntly despite the company being penalised for its historical clearing.

It was needed, Watt argued, to ensure the continued supply of bauxite for industry in Australia and trade partners.

The US government has invested in a joint venture between Alcoa and Japan’s Sojitz Corporation to produce gallium, which is used in computer chips and extracted as a byproduct of the process that refines bauxite to alumina.

Meanwhile, another investigation into Alcoa’s Huntly mine clearing by WA’s Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has found claims it mined too close to a jarrah tree were not substantiated.

The company had been accused of mining within 10 metres of a “significant tree” that could provide nesting for endangered black cockatoos.

However, a DWER report tabled in parliament on Thursday night in response to questions from WA Greens MP Brad Pettitt found the tree was not considered a significant tree under the exemption order granted to Alcoa to operate in the area.

“A review of pre-clearance survey data obtained from Alcoa confirmed this tree was not identified as a significant tree by their consultant,” the report read.

“There was no canopy located near or around the trunk section, and therefore it did not yield any evidence to determine if it meets the criteria of a Black Cockatoo Nesting Tree as defined by the Exemption Order.”

The Alcoa spokesperson said the company had put in place additional operational controls, including an increase in the buffer around significant trees within mining areas.