Site desecrated for profit, NT court hears - The West Australian: A mining company damaged and desecrated an Aboriginal sacred site in the Northern Territory for commercial reasons, a landmark court case has heard.
Prosecutor Andrew Collett told Darwin Magistrates Court on Friday that OM (Manganese) Ltd was trying to maximise profit at the expense of the site.
"It did the things because it was interested in keeping up with its target," he told magistrate Sue Oliver.
"An ordinary mining company in ordinary conditions would have not have continued with that conduct."
The case is believed to be the first prosecution of a company in Australia for desecrating a sacred site.
Photo Damian Kelly
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A MAJOR national bank has been forced to remove more than 100 misleading out of order signs from its ATMs after being targeted by anti-coal activists.
A MAJOR national bank has been forced to remove more than 100 misleading out of order signs from its ATMs after being targeted by anti-coal activists.
A score of ANZ Banking Group machines sprawled across six capital cities were plastered with "out of order" signs on Sunday after campaigners launched their latest bid to draw attention to the bank's funding of the coal industry.
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All not well for Exxon in PNG : from LNG Watch
ReplyDeleteTestimony from a Lake Kutubu landowner on the recent mysterious death of fish at this important biodiversity site.
"We are now having this big problem with Exxon Mobil who runs the gas project going on in the Southern Highlands Province (SHP), mainly in Kutubu and Tari districts.
A contractor named Speicapag who are engaged to construct the Gas Pipeline, is now drilling underground near the lake. And when they drilled the chemicals was washed into the lake and has killed all the fishes in the lake.
We are seeking international independent consultants to stand on behalf of us (Landowners) and fight against Exxon Mobil. We advise them [Exxon] but they still denying that they are the cause of the killing of the fishes in the lake.
We are trying to get someone to help as soon as possible, because of the pollution all fishes are dying now".
...
Dr Kristian Lasslett* | Huffington Post
In the heart of the South Pacific is the resource rich nation of Papua New Guinea. Once lampooned by London Mayor, Boris Johnson, it is now tipped to be the region’s new ‘tiger’ economy, and investors are flocking. Even the United Kingdom is trying to build trade and investment links with its forgotten former colony.
But with the scramble for Papua New Guinea’s resources new dangers are emerging in a country whose state lacks the institutional machinery, or political inclination, to robustly oversee gas, oil and mineral operators.
Those living in the remote Tumbi area of Papua New Guinea’s rugged Southern Highlands know this all too well. It was here one year ago that a landslide swept dozens of local villagers to their death. Twelve months later, families of the victims are no closer to finding an answer to the disaster’s cause, or Exxon Mobil’s alleged involvement.
At the landslide’s epicentre was the QA1 limestone quarry run by MCJV, an Exxon Mobil subcontractor. The quarry serviced construction work for Exxon’s $19 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, known locally as PNG LNG.
"In the landslide’s immediate aftermath local resident, Timothy Nogobe, remarked:
“we have been living on this land for the past 6000 years this is the first time our mountain has killed us.”
Some eyes turned to Exxon Mobil. An official from the government’s National Disaster Centre (NDC), Bill Yomba, told CNN:
“we are still trying to find out the cause but at this stage we believe the gas project run by Esso Highlands Limited [Exxon's Papua New Guinea subsidiary] was a contributor because they had been digging for limestone in the area.”