Pave Madang and put up a parking lot

Two days ago the Madang Chamber of Commerce hosted a full house. Plenty of Members happened to be present, and one, Dr John Mackerel, brought important guests: a handful of Madang landowners who had read most of the Scottish Association for Marine Science report on Deep Sea Tailings for the Ramu Nico Project here in Madang.

 

 

But before we got to that, we went through a few other items on the Chamber Agenda, the most alarming, to my mind, being the apparent theft by the Lands Department and a local Madang resident (let’s call him JJ), a highlands man who has quietly purchased quite a few bits of land around town, of a property that had been ceded by its owners to the public years ago expressly for charitable and/or community use. It’s been the old Theatrical Society Hall, and informal storage for the hospital’s medical equipment, the Red Cross’ stuff, CWA materials, and even, currently, books for the schools. There are rumours that this person forged signatures on the Title to have it transferred to him. And other rumours that this person may be behind a horrible incident that happened in Madang late last year.
Right now he has security round the clock on the Hall preventing CWA, Red cross of Board of Ed reps from retrieving any of their materials. Sends shivers.

 

Half the items of the Agenda were supplied by one of Madang’s most prominent citizen who could not himself make the meeting, but felt the need to make following suggestions to the Chamber:

·   Relocate bats from Madang.  Air Niugini may stop coming to Madang.  The airport will not be expanded.  CAA, The MPG Health and Air Niugini support this move.

·   The CoC needs to understand the problem being created by unqualified people related to the DST and provide a balanced view on the pros and cons without the interference and misleaders attempting to jeopardise the Ramu Nico project.

·   Apply pressure to the Broadband system with the Seacable make operational

·   Look at ways to promote Madang as a Commercial and Educational Centre.  Goroka has already started and Madang should have taken the lead.  With Madang Industrial Park, Tuna Canning, Ramu Nico, downstream process of timber and not least tourism.  The CoC should be engaged in being proactive to make this happen.

·   The road to Mt Hagen has begun from Mt Hagen and track already in place from Madang.  Once this road is in place the industrial centre at Vidar Madang is well place to be the main port in PNG reducing the pressure on the sensitive Lae Wharf and Highlands Highway.

Point 1: What happened to the ecosystem? Relocate bats? Maybe there are other endemic species we could ‘relocate’? Certain butterflies? Possums? Peoples?

 

Is this not related to the argument that we can dump mine tailings onto the sea floor because there is no sea life down that deep? Apparently the cycle of life occurs between upper coral reef and the lower canopy (and everything higher and lower can or should be eliminated). The town has gone a long way toward achieving this goal already with removal of scores of healthy trees from viable public locations. First, the beautiful trees along Coronation Drive have had rubbish raked to their roots, cooked, killed and cut down for no good reason, then the frangipanis and other trees that made the Madang cemetery so beautiful were recently removed to defray what we are told have been clusters of pot-smoking kids.What a brilliant idea! A terrific savings on police personnel! We could remove all shrubs and trees entirely from Madang, not simply to deter crime --but also to prevent mosquitoes---which seems to have been the reason Madang Teachers College removed the glorious hundred-year old rain trees that decorated their entrance until last year (and whose removal has brought swamps and, alas, the return of mosquitoes!) We are the new Dubai.

So let’s shoo those nasty bats away.

 

This seems related to the third item suggested, regarding a shift in Madang’s public personae to the industrial-educational centre of PNG: With Madang Industrial Park, Tuna Canning, Ramu Nico, downstream process of timber and not least tourism. 

So, let’s see, with ten canneries in an industrial zone and swarms of purse seiners offshore at Alexishafen (home to some of Madang’s most important WWII relics), and nickel mine tailings being dumped into the Bismark Sea just east of town, combined with trucks hauling massive loads of timber from our bush everyday…what more could you want for tourism? Now, remove the flying foxes and all those nasty youth-harbouring trees, and there’s hardly an excuse for visiting anywhere but Madang --for the peace and tranquillity, the nature and water sports, the traditional hospitality.
We now need a great shopping mall, and maybe an amusement park to replace the expected culture visits to villages like Bilbil and Riwo—because, after all, these sites will be filled with migrants for our new industrial park, so much more accessible when they finally build that road between the north coast and Mt Hagen. Maybe we could have an Epcot Centre PNG with little pavilions for each Province, as well as special expos for the Philippines, China, Malaysia and elsewhere.

Now, the issue of broadband. Apparently the pipeline that is to be built to dump the tailings in our sea, our major fishing grounds, will also interfere with the cables being laid for broadband. So perhaps our Industrial Tourism future will not quite have the IT standards of Mindanao or Beijing, however lovely it will otherwise be. Maybe we can sell the ‘traditionalism’ of old landline and wireless models?

 

Finally, and not least, we arrive at the issue of Deep Sea Tailings. Keeping in mind that Members of the Chamber of Commerce are not supposed to discourage development of any sort, however it may impinge upon our own business, health or wellbeing, apparently we have not been rallying around Ramu Nico as loudly as our one prominent Member would hope. In fact, some among us have even suggested that the Deep Sea Tailings Disposal system (that seems to be etched in stone without any community consensus) may not be in the best interest of Madang town (other than a few well-placed businesses).

We are told that the Chamber ‘needs to understand the problem being created by unqualified people related to the DST and provide a balanced view on the pros and cons without the interference and misleaders attempting to jeopardise the Ramu Nico project.’

Fortunately we were able to buttress our faulty qualifications with a brief on the 192 page Scottish Association of Marine Science report, and the presence of some of the impact zone landowners themselves.

The report reminds us that:

There are three general concerns associated with mine waste disposal: cyanide toxicity, heavy-metal contamination (especially from arsenic-bearing ores) and acid mine drainage.

Regarding Deep Sea Tailings, it continues:

…Mine wastes have been discharged to the sea at varying depths worldwide for many years, however, the concept of ‘very deep’ disposal of mine tailings in the marine environment was first proposed as an attractive option for disposal of mine waste in the scientific literature by Ellis and Ellis (1994). The concept of deep submarine tailings placement (DSTP) is based on discharge at the edge of an extended drop-off, to 1000 m or more, and at a depth below the euphotic zone. Discharge must be at a location where the tailings slurry from the pipeline will form a turbidity current flowing coherently with minimum discharge until it reaches the base of the drop-off. In principle, channels beyond fringing reefs are suitable sites. There must be very little or no risk at the site of impacting amounts of tailings up-welling back into shallow water.

The general concepts of DSTP include:

• Discharge on the edge of an extended drop-off (to 1000 m or more)

• Discharge below the euphotic zone

• Discharge in the form of a coherent turbidity current which flows with minimum dispersal until it reaches the base of the drop-off.

• Minimal chance of tailings upwelling back into shallow water

 

…The fundamental premise of DSTP is that tailings discharged at a depth below the euphotic zone form a stable plume which descends to the ocean floor. The tailings solids eventually deposit on the ocean floor as a footprint. DSTP methodology involves removal of air bubbles from the tailings to reduce their buoyancy and prevent them from becoming entrained in the surface waters.

…The tailings can either be de-aerated at a concentration plant, or at a de-aeration tank on the coast. Prior to de-aeration, the tailings are usually thickened to recycle water and process chemicals. The tailings may also be treated to remove process chemicals. The tailings are then mixed with seawater pumped from an appropriate depth, so it is a suitable density and temperature, into a mixing tank. …However, because mixing tanks involve higher capital investment and maintenance costs, they are not always used.....

 

…The over-riding impact of deep-sea tailings discharges involves alteration of the physical environment due to the volume of waste material that is discharged, which smothers benthic organisms residing within the trajectory of the tailings density plume and inhabiting the final deposition area. This is particularly significant for sessile benthic organisms and organisms that move too slowly to escape being smothered. The extent of this impact can be difficult to predict given the lack of knowledge on specific marine benthic organisms. Secondary effects relate to the toxicity of both particulate metals and metals released from the tailings solids, and the effects of residual process chemicals in the tailing waste, which may result in acute or chronic effects on the organisms exposed.

Depending on the nature of the deposited tailings waste, the deposition footprint is likely to represent a very different habitat compared to the adjacent un-impacted seabed. Changes in grain size may affect both burrow dwellers and deposit feeders. A reduction in the particulate organic matter content will also reduce the general nutritional value of the solids material.

Overall, the following benthic impacts are likely:

• Alteration of the physical environment (smothering of the benthos).

• Changes in species composition/abundance and biodiversity.

• Increased metal bioaccumulation.

 

Following the cessation of mining, the tailings footprint environment becomes less dynamic, leading to changes in community structure and organism abundance. Although, …following the cessation of mining operations, submarine slumps and re-suspension of unstable tailings deposits can impede recovery. Average natural sediment deposition rates are very low in the deep ocean. Thus, depending on the location of the tailings depository, it may take many thousands of years before the footprint zone is capped by an appreciable layer of natural sediments.

…Studies conducted at the decommissioned Canadian mines Island Copper and Kitsault, indicate that recolonisation of the tailings surface will occur, but not necessarily with the same species that were originally present at the sites. Recovery of the larger infaunal species will also take longer.

Within the water column, increased turbidity and dissolved and particulate metal concentrations, will directly impact organisms in the vicinity of the mixing zone and the tailings density current. Surface tailings plumes resulting from pipeline failures and up-welling, and the formation of subsurface tailings plumes will also increase turbidity and metal concentrations in localized areas, potentially impacting shallow reef and sea grass communities, pelagic communities and coastal fisheries.

The risk of potential biological impacts will depend on levels of turbidity and toxicity, the depth at which plumes form, and the sensitivity of marine organisms to these disturbances. The more mobile animals may be able to migrate from affected areas.

Direct effects can include the flocculation of fine particulate material entrapping small organisms such as phytoplankton and larva at early stages of development. The trapped organisms will ultimately sink, transporting the particulate material to deeper depths. Fine particles will also clog fish gills and filtering mechanisms in other organisms. Given that primary productivity in the euphotic zone is a major source of organic carbon for the ocean floor, pelagic impacts may also indirectly affect benthic organisms (e.g. reduction in food supply/organic matter).

Bio-accumulation of metals is likely to occur depending on the levels of metals or

other potentially toxic elements in the tailings discharge, and trophic transfer of

contaminants is possible. Larger zooplankton that ingest tailings particles will

increase their specific gravity and have to expend more energy to maintain buoyancy, and species that undergo daily vertical migrations may increase the speed and efficiency of contaminant transport from the surface waters to epipelagic and mesopelagic environments, and the benthos.

The potential impacts on pelagic organisms are as follows:

• Local decreases in primary productivity as a result of increased turbidity

• Local acute toxicity of dissolved metals, particulate metals, process chemicals• Chronic/sublethal effects of metals on organisms

• Metal bioaccumulation leading to increased trophic transfer of metals

• Habitat alteration (e.g. increased turbidity, smothering of coral reefs)

• Changes in species composition/abundance

• Changes in biodiversity

• Reduction in food availability

• Effect of fine particles on organisms: e.g. clogging of gills and feeding

mechanisms

• Local effects of increased turbidity on organisms that utilise bioluminescence

• Increased productivity due to iron or other nutrient availability.

 

The most important findings by the authors relate to Misima, and Lihir, where submarine tailings disposal has already taken place and yet, prior to this study, had not been reliably measured for environmental impact . As the authors tell us:

…Prior to this study there were no reliable pre-impact biological data to indicate the natural state of deep-sea benthic communities off Misima. In addition, the full spatial extent of tailings dispersal was uncertain, although the Bwagaoia Basin depocentre had been identified…This work leads to the conclusion that stations M1, M2 and M3 [at Misima] are still significantly impacted by tailings 13 years after the cessation of DSTP at Misima…. At this stage it is premature to consider the Misima stations in terms of “recovery” from the impacts of tailings. We do not know whether the heavily-impacted community states observed at M1, M2 and M3 form part of a continuum that will change over time towards the more natural conditions seen at M4, M5 and M6, or whether they represent stable states that will remain in their present condition indefinitely. Future time-series sampling will be necessary to answer this question.

 

I dreamt last night that when we all broke into Apex Hall to find those schoolbooks and medical supplies, we also found a few economics and environmental textbooks, including, miraculously, critqies of unlimited growth (stuff like Linking Conservation to Poverty Reduction,  Reinventing Capitalism, Beyond the Keynesian revolution, etc., plus some of William Easterly's books) and cartons and cartons of Rachel Carson's Since Silent Spring. But then I woke up in Madang.

Comments

[Hyleslie]

Fabulous darling! Well done. Kudos to Dr. Tinpis too. Miss you all.