A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding potential contamination at the Barrick Gold Operations and Raleigh Gold Mine. The Minister provides some information, citing confidentiality and the need for further investigation.

AnsweredQoN 2720Legislative Council
Asked
7 September 2010
Portfolio
Environment

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Barrick Gold Operations, the Raleigh Gold Mine, and old infrastructure previously located on mining tenure and land in the area, and ask -
(1) Can the Minister state on what specific dates Barrick made reports including locations under the
Contaminated Sites Act 2003
for the above referred to operations?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) Can the minister indicate the depth in metres below ground level that has been contaminated with soils, groundwater around the above referred to operations?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Can the Minister indicate for each of the sites referred to in (1) and (3), why the Department of Environment and Conservation considers each to be to a contaminated site?
(6) If no to (5), why not?
(7) Can the Minister identify with a scaled map all of the specific areas for the above referred to operations, showing tenement areas with tenement numbers of all the areas suspected known or contaminated areas reported under the
Contaminated sites Act 2003
?
(8) If no to (7), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
12 October 2010
Responded by
Minister for Environment
Response time
35 days
(1)-(2) No. Under section 96(1) of the
Contaminated Sites Act 2003, t
he identity of any person who reports a known or suspected contaminated site is confidential.
(3-6) Raleigh Gold Mine has been classified
possibly contaminated - investigation required
under the Contaminated Sites Act. Desktop studies and monitoring data indicate that acidity, cyanide, hydrocarbons, metals and/or salinity may be present in soil and/or groundwater in parts of the site.
Further investigation is required to determine the lateral and vertical extent of impact, followed by a risk assessment to determine whether the level of substances present in soil or groundwater represent a risk of harm to human health, the environment or any environmental value.
(7)-(8) Yes. I table the attached paper showing the mining tenements that form part of the Raleigh Gold Mine and seek leave to have it incorporated into Hansard.
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