Alcoa fined $55 million for clearing northern jarrah forest without approvals

US aluminium giant Alcoa has been fined $55 million for clearing Western Australia’s northern jarrah forest – used as habitat by nationally protected species – without approvals.

However, the miner will be allowed to continue its operations under a deal struck with the federal government.

The clearing for bauxite mining took place at its Huntly and Willowdale mines between 2019 and 2025 and occurred without approvals required under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Despite maintaining it had met its federal environmental obligations, the miner agreed to pay the fine as part of an enforceable undertaking reached with the federal government on Wednesday.

“It’s the largest conservation‑focused commitment of its kind,” Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said.

The company will also expand conservation programs for species including WA’s three black cockatoos, and strengthen invasive species management within the northern jarrah forest.

The fine is the latest controversy to engulf the US-based bauxite miner, whose operations in WA continue to come under scrutiny as mining pushes further north into the forest, near drinking water sources.

Watt said Alcoa would now be subject to an 18-month strategic assessment of its entire Perth operations with a view to reach an agreement between federal regulators and the company to determine the future of its mining until 2045.

In a move that has angered conservation groups, Alcoa will be allowed to continue clearing and mining throughout the 18-month assessment period under a national interest exemption granted by Watt.

This will ensure the continued supply of bauxite for industry in Australia and with trade partners, he said.

“This agreement will enable the government to assess the cumulative environmental impacts of Alcoa’s local mining operations and provide strong protections for threatened species and ecological communities, while offering Alcoa long-term operational certainty,” Watt said.

It also ensures Alcoa can sustain its operations, which employ about 6000 workers.

WA Forest Alliance director Jess Boyce welcomed the fine but said the government framed it in a way that gave the impression Alcoa’s mining could be done sustainably.

“That simply isn’t possible,” she said.

“Research shows that the northern jarrah forest cannot be rehabilitated after it’s mined for bauxite, the forest is structured differently and has a huge impact on many of these threatened species that rely on this habitat.”

Conservation Council WA executive director Matt Roberts said it was mind-boggling that the clearing could have taken place over six years without action.

“I do think that what we have with Alcoa is a company that is losing its social license, and that has been frustrating to the government,” he said.

“So we’ve seen them called out by people, but what we haven’t seen is tangible action from there.”

The miner has committed to pay $4.2 million in additional offsets for activities covered by the exemption for management of the environmental impacts.

Alcoa said modernising the approvals framework would provide a better understanding of the potential impacts of land clearing and mining on significant flora and fauna into the future.

The company will continue to limit clearing to 800 hectares per year and increase new rehabilitation rates annually to 1000 hectares per year by 2027.

“We are committed to responsible operations and welcome this important step in transitioning our approvals to a contemporary assessment process that provides increased certainty for our operations and our people into the future,” Alcoa president and chief executive William F Oplinger said.

“We appreciate the government’s recognition of the important contributions of our operations to the Australian economy. We’re proud of our more than 60 years as a leading Australian aluminum producer and the role we are now playing in support of critical minerals production.”

WA Greens environment spokeswoman Jess Beckerling said there was a “profound level of discontent” with the clearing of the northern jarrah forest – pointing to a record 59,000 submissions to a recent WA Environmental Protection Authority process – and said the federal environment minister’s “capitulation” would “make people very angry”.

“While this $55 million fine is not insignificant, today’s announcement smacks of a deal to allow Alcoa to keep clearing and gain longer term approvals in spite of illegal clearing and profound impacts on forests, wildlife and water,” she said.

The strategic assessment will not impact an ongoing accredited environmental assessment of the future Myara North and Holyoake mine regions of the Huntly mine under WA and federal environment law.

Alcoa has committed $100 million to fund the response to any incidents impacting Perth’s water supply.

The Minerals Council of Australia said the agreement was a pragmatic decision by Alcoa and the federal government.

Chief executive Tania Constable called on state and federal governments to “rapidly finalise” workable national environmental standards and assessment agreements to reduce mine approval delays.

with AAP