Grave concerns remain after license  granted to Lynas  Media Release: Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, Robin Chapple MLC. Thursday  February 2nd, 2012

The Greens have expressed grave concerns over the Malaysian Government’s  approval for a new rare earth refinery in Pahang.

West Australian Senator Scott Ludlam said many local residents, environment  groups and other parties were still deeply troubled by the proposed refinery and the  process by which it has been established.

“In early January the Malaysian press was reporting severe restrictions on the  public’s ability to access information about the proposed plant. After almost a year  of protests from locals and environmentalists forced Lynas to revise plans, the  Australian company and Malaysian authorities were still reticent to reveal all.  Why?” said Senator Ludlam.

Greens WA MLC Robin Chapple said rare earth mining and refining had caused  controversy in China - the world’s leading source of the minerals.

“One of the major reasons China has reduced its rare earth output and exports since  2009 was the government and public concern that mining and refining operations  were causing excessive contamination to surrounding areas.”

“The original proposal was to process as well as mine in Mount Weld, Western  Australia, and to export the refined rare earth. We are concerned that thousands of  tonnes of this unprocessed material containing radioactive thorium will be  transported through Fremantle in road trains, in the same bags and using the same  method employed for the lead exports by Magellan.”

“We still believe that the material should be processed at Mt Weld and the toxic  legacy placed back in the ground from where it came from rather than be left in piles  on swampland in Malaysia,” said Mr Chapple.

Senator Ludlam said public pressure had caused changes from the Malaysian  authorities and the company, but serious concerns remained.

“The original plan looked like a cowboy job - raising a lot of questions. Protests by  residents and NGOs since early last year saw a march on Malaysia's parliament and

a demonstration at the Australian High Commission. Experts from the International  Atomic Energy Agency made a series of recommendations to reduce risks posed by  the plan, including a better long-term waste management plan, leading the  government to impose additional safety standards - but there has been a lack of  transparency.”

"When Malaysia’s Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry announced Lynas  had applied for a temporary licence, the Ministry stated it would display the  application documents for public feedback before reaching their decision.  Unreasonable restrictions were placed on public viewing of the documents. It was  reported only one person was allowed to view the 300+ page document at a time for  a maximum of one hour. If the public could view the document for a 14 day period,  in an office open seven hours a day, but only one person at a time for a maximum of  one hour, there was essentially a smoke and mirrors consultation process,” said  Senator Ludlam.



Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302

