State govt faces legal action over Wittenoom mess

The state government could be dragged to court by Pilbara traditional owners for failing to clean up Wittenoom’s mountains of deadly asbestos tailings.

Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation’s board has agreed to take legal action against the state government over its inaction in remediating the asbestos tailing-riddled gorges of Wittenoom.

In a 2022 submission to the United Nations the native title body argued the state government had violated its human rights and native title rights by failing to clean up the tailings.

That argument hinged on a clause in native title determinations which grants the right to access, hunt on, maintain, and protect traditional lands.

“Banjima people are unable to safely and freely access their homelands due to this contamination,” the submission said.

“The three million tonnes of dumped asbestos tailings are not contained.

“The Banjima people are at risk of contracting mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases should they enter the contaminated area.”

The submission argued lobbying efforts to clean up the tailings had “fallen on deaf ears”, and criticised the state government for not publicising its costings for remediation.

“When the Banjima People received their Native Title, we were handed back the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere, with no support, help or plan to fix it,” BNTAC said.

“We want to be safe in our home. We want to be able to come back home.”

Business News in April revealed a GHD report buried by the state government for more than 10 years estimated the clean-up cost of the Wittenoom and Yampire Gorge tailings at $153 million.

Adjusting for inflation, that cost would come close to $200 million today.

Politicians and reports have over the years said companies responsible for the mess – namely CSR, Hancock Prospecting, and Wright Prospecting – should pay to clean it up.

But a letter in 1988 from former mining minister Jeff Carr revealed taxpayers would likely bear the cost as the land had reverted to the Crown in 1979.

At least three reports detailing the clean-up cost and remediation options have been presented to the state government, but none have been made public.

A Barnett government era committee decided dumping the asbestos piles into excavations dug into the gorges was the preferred method to clean up the tailings.

The Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage would not confirm whether this remained the government’s preferred remediation method.

The clean-up of Wittenoom has come to a head following the death this year of influential Banjima elder Maitland Parker, who succumbed to mesothelioma after a lengthy eight-year battle.

Mr Parker was a tireless advocate for cleaning up the gorges of Wittenoom and in 2022 described his deep anger to The Guardian Australia at the lack of progress to do so.

The Banjima community of Youngaleena sits about 10 kilometres from the Wittenoom gorges.

Some concerns are also held for the Pilbara’s major drinking water catchment and tourist sites as wet season rains wash asbestos tailings downstream from Wittenoom towards Millstream Chichester National Park.

The state government has buried contaminated infrastructure in the former Wittenoom townsite and closed access to the gorges but has repeatedly asserted the cost of fully remediating the gorges was prohibitive.

“It is unlikely to be technically feasible to remediate the total area from contamination, and this will be considered by the Wittenoom Steering Committee (which includes the Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation),” A Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage spokesperson said in April.

“The Wittenoom Closure Act 2022 was passed allowing the State Government to acquire the remaining privately owned lots in the former townsite and to progress the process of closing the town permanently to the public.

“We can’t be any clearer, Wittenoom is the largest contaminated area in the southern hemisphere, to anyone thinking about visiting the area, forget it – it is not safe to visit Wittenoom at any time, due to the asbestos contamination and you may even risk death.”

Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation was contacted for comment.