Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger will look to shore up state government support for his vital WA mining that is facing public scrutiny for the first time.
No room for the timid: The 2035 emissions target must signal strong ambition on climate action, to drive policy and investment and avoid being seen as unrealistic or too costly.
The US giant pretends Labor's policies are thwarting the expansion of its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants, which it does not plan to do anyway, to gain leverage with governments.
Record 59,000 submissions to EPA on Alcoa as US boss flies in
Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger will look to shore up state government support for his vital WA mining that is facing public scrutiny for the first time.
The US miner's plans to strip mine the jarrah forest have attracted more than 59,000 submissions to WA's independent environment watchdog amid a widening public backlash against its activities.
The large volume of feedback, with more than 10 per cent of submissions being singular documents, not proformas, is understood to be the highest number of submissions ever received by the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
It is the first time Alcoa's mining, which has already removed 280 square kilometres of jarrah forest, has been subject to an independent and public environmental review.
For the past sixty years, its mining operations have been exempt from regular environmental laws and instead have been approved by a committee of bureaucrats led by the department responsible for economic development.
EPA chair Darren Walsh said the authority would consolidate the submissions into a summary for Alcoa to respond to. It would publish those responses before delivering its report on Alcoa's current and planned mining to the environment minister.
Walsh said he expected the EPA would finish assessing Alcoa's proposals in the first half of 2026.
The public can then lodge appeals against the EPA's recommendations, which the Environment Minister, Matthew Swinbourn, will consider before he makes a decision.
Greens upper house member and environment spokeswoman Jess Beckerling said the number of submissions reflected an overwhelming opposition to Alcoa's strip mining of the jarrah forest.
"Alcoa's plans would destroy another 11,458 hectares of forest, which cannot be regrown, risk our water and the extinction of Black Cockatoos, and add 1.3 billion tonnes of emissions to the atmosphere," she said.
"It's an absolute no-brainer that it cannot go ahead.
"There is only one appropriate course of action for the EPA and the Cook Government to take, and that is to heed the evidence and the overwhelming community opposition and wind Alcoa up."
The WA Labor government may take little notice of the Greens, but will be sensitive to wider community concerns, evidenced by the number of submissions and recently, unusually strong moves by local governments.
WA Forest Alliance campaigner Jason Fowler said the community had made its opposition clear.
"Further destruction of the jarrah forest is unacceptable, and maintaining safe drinking water and public access to our forest must be upheld," he said.
"The WA government should listen to the community, refuse Alcoa's plans and start planning for a just transition for affected workers."
In the past few weeks, the Cities of Kalamunda and Armadale, and the shires of Mundaring and Serpentine-Jarrahdale have all voted unanimously against Alcoa expanding its mining operations.
The Pittsburgh-headquartered firm depends on its distant WA operation for more than 70 per cent of its total production of bauxite and alumina. Until Alcoa receives approval to move into new areas of the jarrah forest, it is returning to previously mined areas to extract lower-grade ore that it had rejected the first time.
It is forcing the company to mine more ore but produce less alumina, reducing the profitability of its WA operation, so investment analysts have closely watched the approval schedule.
A year ago, the EPA had planned to publish the environmental review documents in January, and Alcoa expected the environment minister to make a decision in the first quarter of 2026.
However, Alcoa did not supply the review documents until May, and in the past few days, Alcoa has removed any estimate of when it will receive approval from its website.
Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger said in July that even if approval for a mining expansion was not received until mid-2027, the company could keep its Pinjarra refinery operating.
Oplinger is now in Australia and will meet state and federal government ministers to discuss its WA mining and alumina refining and its aluminium smelter in Victoria, a company spokesman said.
Oplingers' visit comes a week after two more revelations about Alcoa's mining in the jarrah forest.
A report by global engineering consultancy GHD for Alcoa concluded that there were 21 high-risk pathways through which its mining operations could contaminate Perth's water supply.
Additionally, Alcoa was found to be non-compliant with conditions imposed on its mining operations, including drilling too close to trees used by endangered cockatoos for nesting and failing to complete vital plans to make its mining activities safer for the environment.
In meetings with governments, Oplinger is likely to stress the 4000 employees it has in WA and the importance of aluminium to many clean energy technologies.
The Alcoa spokesman said the company appreciated the level of interest in the important process of public consultation.
"Community participation strengthens the assessment process, and we look forward to receiving a summary of the comments from the EPA," he said.
"Alcoa respects that we operate in areas of high value to the community and commits to undertaking a comprehensive review of the feedback. We will prepare responses in a thorough and timely manner."
The State Government has been asked if Premier Roger Cook will meet Oplinger.
I worked in oil & gas in commercial and engineering roles for 20 years. Since 2016, I have written for The West Australian, WAtoday, The Guardian and Boiling Cold, winning five WA Media Awards.
The US giant pretends Labor's policies are thwarting the expansion of its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants, which it does not plan to do anyway, to gain leverage with governments.
Peter Milne
Peter Milne
