"Entire villages would be wiped out if natural disaster hit dam on PNG mine, critics say", 14 March 2021

A proposed dam to hold billions of tonnes of mine waste near the head of Papua New Guinea’s longest river is a potential environmental disaster that could wipe out entire villages if there was a natural disaster, government officials, environmental advocacy groups and villagers living along the river say. [...]

West Sepik provincial administrator Conrad Tilau told the Guardian the government’s position was clear: “There should not be any dam built at the Frieda.

“The formation of the rocks under where the dam will be built is not safe, and also because … the water contained in the dam will be huge. If there is a fault in the structure, the dam will give way.

“The company must look for other alternatives to dispose of the waste like the option of deep sea tailings placement … but not the dam.” [...]

In its environmental impact statement, PanAust said the “nation-building project … presents broad commercial and socioeconomic development opportunities for Papua New Guinea”. The mine plan also includes a hydroelectric plant, power grid, and road, airport and seaport upgrades. [...]

PanAust declined to respond to a series of questions from the Guardian. The company has not proposed deep-sea tailings disposal.

PNG’s centre for environmental law and community rights and landowner advocacy group Project Sepik argued there was significant risk of a dam break, citing 10 reports provided to the Conservation Environment and Protection Authority in 2020.

“The Frieda River tailings dam has a medium risk of dam breakage as a result of: the extremely large amount of mine waste and tailings that will be produced; the rugged terrain; extremely high average annual rainfall … around 8 metres per year … and the mine to be located in a seismically active area which between 2010 and 2017 saw five earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 6.” [...]