Ok Tedi Copper Mine
The Ok Tedi Copper Mine is located in Papua New Guinea. It is an open-pit gold and copper mine, named as such because it is near the Ok Tedi River. Mining gold and copper out of the pit have caused widespread social and environmental harm to the atmosphere around the Ok Tedi Copper Mine. Located near a river, the discharge and runoff of the mine have negatively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of residents in over one-hundred villages living downstream from the mine. The people are now suffering because of the placement of the mine, but also because of its extreme amounts of pollution.
The issue at hand is that for over twenty years, discharge from the mine has been pumping 80,000 tons of mine tailings, as well as over 100,000 tons of waste rock each day into the Ok Tedi River. This flows into the Fly River, eventually making its way to the ocean, destroying the rainforests and wetlands as it went. Residents depending on the river for farming and fishing are now left without this ecological self-sufficiency, and are entirely dependent on the mine. While many may not consider this an ethical issue because the residents of the 120 villages along the Fly River enjoy the economical comforts the mine provides, it has stripped them of their ability to provide for themselves in a way that did not harm the environment. Moreover, it has forced them to be dependent on a source of economical income that is slowly degrading the ecological integrity of their home. Those who were placed in charge of the ecological function of the mine, as well as its initial placement are ethically at fault. Moreover, even after citizens rallied to be compensated for their visible losses, and studies were produced to prove the mine was hazardous, BHP still considered the mine to be safe and denied citizens any compensation, causing another ethical issue.
Options to resolve the issue are few and unvaried. Operators and residents can continue operation of the mine, as well as the degradation of the OK Tedi River. Operators and residents can also operating the mine, while depredating the Ok Tedi River, but also build a storage facility that will hopefully help restrain any future mine tailings. Thirdly, those in Papua New Guinea could continue operations without doing anything else at all, making no changes. Finally, the only option left would be to close down the mine and begin restoring the ecological environment that has been so damaged in hopes that residents could once more begin relying on the Fly River as a source of income, rather than the mine.
Personal views are conflicted. It is unrealistic to believe that closing down the mine would not leave the country in financial ruin, as it is a large source of income at this point. Moreover, because mine tailings have been allowed to proceed so long unchecked, the wetlands and rainforest have been badly damaged, leaving much of the area unusable to the local inhabitants. To shut down the mine would many unable to care for themselves financially or otherwise. Ideally, continuing to use the mine, but also building a facility that would restrict tailings in hopes of restoring damaged areas along both rivers would be the best option for all involved. It is not the most ethical or ideal, but if the riverbeds are restored, the mine can eventually be closed and it will likely be the option that will save the most lives and prevent the most economic disparity.
