KEEP MINERAL SANDS MINING OUT OF FIRE-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES!
KEEP MINERAL SANDS MINING OUT OF FIRE-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES!
In Early August 2021, Wairewa, Nowa Nowa and Sarsfield residents received a letter in the mail to advise them of Iluka Resources application to the Victorian Government for three proposed mineral sands application sites totalling an approximate combined area of 455km2.
These three communities were devastated in late 2019/early 2020 by the Black Summer bushfires, which destroyed many homes and is continuing to impact individuals and families to this day. The coronavirus pandemic immediately followed these events, resulting in more than eighteen months of hardship for residents. These areas also possess a strong Indigenous heritage, being situated in GunaiKurnai country.
As residents, we strongly oppose the proposals made by Iluka to mine for mineral sands in our communities. The Victorian State Government website states that minerals exploration is not permitted in national or state parks, yet these proposals are for mining to occur within the Colquhoun state forest. It also states that mining is not permitted on private property, yet a large proportion of Sarsfield and Wairewa is made up of privately-owned properties and farmland.
Iluka previously undertook mineral sands explorations from 2004 to 2012 near Balmoral. Ten years later, the residents in this area are exposed to health risks associated with radioactive waste. A fourteen-foot pit filled with radioactive waste is still present in the area and has not been rehabilitated as was promised close to a decade later. Nearby farmland is continuing to suffer and subside despite claims of rehabilitation being completed. This is what we will be forced to endure.
These proposals are disrespectful to the hardships and devastation experienced by our communities in the past two years, hardships and devastation that we are still processing and healing from. We do not consent to our communities being explored for mineral sand deposits, or our health and land being threatened.
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