LATEST UPDATE FROM SMSL's COURT CASE

Qoute from SMSL Chairperson, Mr. Tan Bun Teet

The JR hearing scheduled for the 5th Feb is now off!

We have filed for the judge to be recused and also an application for the Mosti Minister to be summoned to court for cross examination by our counsel.

These two have to be disposed off before the hearing of JR can proceed.

One of the reasons why we filed for the recusal is because she ruled on last Tuesday's application on the ground that the 7 applicants did not appeal to the Minister first before coming to court for leave.

I am one of the 5 applicants who had not gone thru the minister's hearing and if this is to be the criteria in use in her future judgement, I and the other two applicants will be barred from proceeding ANY further!

拯救大马委员会（SMSL）新闻文告

拯救大马委员会将继续进行法律诉讼停止莱纳斯

30/01/2013

拯救大马委员会针对关丹高庭昨天以没有向相关部门提出上诉，进而耗尽行政上诉管道为理由，拒绝向7名关丹居民发出司法审核的准令保持怀疑态度，认为法官判决不谨慎，自相矛盾。

拯 救大马委员会主席陈文德指出，将在未来再次上诉申请撤销莱纳斯的TOL（临时营运准证）。一名拯救大马委员会发言人表示：“已经越来越多专家提出证据证明 莱纳斯项目将会为马来西亚人民以及国家带来永久性的负面冲击。事实上拯救大马委员会已经致函给马来西亚科学工艺与革新部长，其他的居民较早前也向他申诉。 但是部长已经有了定论，这是为何我们求助于法院的原因。”

昨天的司法审查是挑战马来西亚原子能执照局（AELB）向莱纳斯发出TOL（临时运作许可证）的决定。这项法律诉讼是在较早前在2012年12月18号呈上法院。

Haji Ismail Abu Bakar在出席听证会后感叹的表示：“显然，我们不能只靠法庭来决定我们的未来。我们需要以全球运动以及在既将到来的大选做出更多的努力, 来为马来西亚带来改变。我们的未来不会出卖在不关心环境和人民的企业以及政府手上”

著名德国科学研究所在较早前（星期一）发表了一份报告，清楚显示莱纳斯项目中的几个重大缺陷。民众可以通过以下的连接阅读有关的新闻文告：http://www.oeko.de/press/press_releases/dok/1484.php

陈 文德向反莱纳斯的支持者呼吁时表示：“拯救大马委员会誓言要抗争到底。现在我们手上有科学证据证明莱纳斯是不安全的。我们将会加强我们的国际运动和选举运 动，改换政府。我呼吁所有的居民和马来西亚公民站出来和我们一起联手保护你们的家人，你们的财产以及关丹和马来西亚的未来。选择权在您手上，请为了我们的 国家及一个更安全的生活环境做一些事吧。”

更多的资讯请拨打SMSL的热线：+6 012 982 3302

Press statement of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL)

SMSL Continues with Court Action to Stop Lynas

30th January 2013

SMSL is sceptical with yesterday’s Kuantan high court’s outcome dismissing the judicial review case filed by seven Kuantan residents on ground that they have not raised the matters with the relevant government minister.

Mr Tan Bun Teet, an applicant to another judicial review case forthcoming to revoke the TOL and a spokesperson for SMSL says “It appeared that the mounting evidence by various expert witnesses and impact of the Lynas project on us the rakyat and our country from now and forever had not matter. The fact of the matter is SMSL has written to the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovations and other residents had earlier appealed to him. The Minister had made his decision which is why we turned to the court in the first place.”

The judicial review yesterday was to challenge the decision of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) on the issuance of the temporary operating license (TOL). The case was filed on 18th December 2012.

“Clearly, we cannot only rely on the court to decide our future. We have to do more work on our international campaign and our election campaign for change in Malaysia. Our future is not for sale to any company or government that does not care about the environment and the people.” Lamented Haji Ismail Abu Bakar who was present at yesterday’s hearing.

“SMSL has vowed to fight until the end and we WILL do just that. We now have scientific facts about the Lynas project on hand. We will intensify our international campaign and the election campaign for a change of government. I call on concerned residents and citizens to stand together with us to do something to protect your family, investment and your future in Kuantan and in Malaysia. The government has failed in its duty of care to protect you. The choice is now in your hands to do something to reclaim your safe space here in this country.” Mr Tan appeals to supporters of the Stop Lynas campaign.

For further comments, please contact SMSL hotline +60129823302

YALE environment 360

 http://e360.yale.edu/feature/boom_in_mining_rare_earths_poses_mounting_toxic_risks/2614/

Boom in Mining Rare Earths Poses Mounting Toxic Risks

The mining of rare earth metals, used in everything from smart phones to wind turbines, has long been dominated by China. But as mining of these key elements spreads to countries like Malaysia and Brazil, scientists warn of the dangers of the toxic and radioactive waste generated by the mines and processing plants. 

By Mike Ives

Oliver Peter Curtis charged with conspiracy to commit insider trading

http://m.smh.com.au/business/socialite-may-face-jail-over-insider-trading-charges-20130129-2dj0a.html


Socialite may face jail over insider trading charges

THE Sydney socialite Oliver Peter Curtis was charged on Tuesday with conspiracy to commit insider trading, two years after his former best friend John Hartman pleaded guilty to insider trading offences that led to a prison sentence.

The charges relate to an alleged agreement between the two where Mr Curtis allegedly traded on the basis of inside information Hartman possessed about the trading intentions of his employer, Orion Asset Management.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, in return for providing the insider information, it is alleged Mr Curtis provided Hartman with a share of the profits in the form of cash and ''by using the funds to purchase items for Mr Hartman''.

Mr Curtis is the son of the Sydney businessman Nick Curtis, a founder of Sino Resources and the executive chairman of the rare earths miner Lynas Corp.

Mr Curtis works with his father at a corporate advisory firm, Riverstone Advisory.

Hartman, the son of the prominent Sydney obstetrician Keith Hartman, was sentenced to three years' jail after pleading guilty to related, and unrelated, insider trading offences in April 2010.

China Ambassador hints out rare earth waste as a 'big problem'

http://m.malaysiakini.com/news/220187

• 承认稀土废料是“大问题”
  中国大使称或令外资止步
• 2013年1月29日 下午4点36分
• 尽管贸工部长慕斯达法今早宣称，到马中关丹产业园投资的中国商家都不曾提起稀土厂问题，足以证明莱纳斯稀土厂安全；但是在另一边厢，中国驻马来西亚大使柴玺却说，稀土废料是一项大问题，或造成中国投资者止步来马。
  
  根据《光华日报》面子书，这也是柴玺首度对澳洲莱纳斯公司在彭亨关丹格宾工业区设立稀土厂一事，作出回应。
  
  他表示，尽管专家研究报告显示，稀土产品不会危险人体健康，但稀土废料确实是项大问题，令中资“困难”前来投资。

Chairperson of SMSL, Mr. Tan Bun Teet's speech at Oeko Lauch

The Government and Lynas have always claimed that the people have no scientific evidence to keep the temporary operating licence away from Lynas. Now we have a detailed document explaining why the licence should never have been issued and how the Lynas project will pollute our environment and its radioactive waste will leave undue burden for future generations.

The list goes on as evidenced in the Oeko report.

This report is a long- time coming and we highly appreciate the hard work and the thorough analysis carried out by Gerhard and his peers at the Oeko Institute.

This report clearly shows that the Lynas plant in Malaysia is not a zero-harm operation, far from it in fact. Lynas, the IAEA and our own government have all failed in their duty of care to ensure that the necessary standard is uphold and due procedure followed in allowing the Lynas project to go ahead.

SMSL will be using this report and the findings for future court cases. The report will be widely publicised and shared amongst professionals and concerned people in Malaysia so that we are clear what risks and hazards the Lynas project is posing on us.

The report will be widely circulated to journalists and institutions all over the world, especially to financial institutions, universities and to corporations who have signed up to buy Lynas' rare earth oxides. They will learn that Lynas has been deceiving them on the ecological sustainability of its products.

SMSL will of course use the report to pressure the Government to do its job as a regulator and a law enforcer. The people have spoken loud and clear. Any government that blindly supports the Lynas project like the current regime will not get their votes!

SMSL would like to thank the generous and caring public in Kuantan and elsewhere in Malaysia and overseas who have donated generously to the Stop Lynas campaign. Without their contributions, this report would not have been forthcoming and we would have to put up with a world-scale polluting plant without a good fight.

SMSL also commend the tiresless effort and energy of the public in continuing to protest to oppose the Lynas rare earth project. Without this energy and commitment, the Stop Lynas campaign will not be as strong and as well known today.

I urge everyone to continue to play their part and do whatever possible to help us Stop this polluting and hazardous project - STOP LYNAS!

Thank you very much

Kuantan High Court Judicial Review Hearing 29/01/13

Court hearing in progress as at 12noon...

Court adjourned for lunch and awaits the ruling from the judge at 2pm...

LATEST NEWS:
Court ruled  against the applicants on ground that they did not exhaust the internal avenue. The details of this proceeding will be uploaded later... 

Judicial Review Hearing on 29/01/13(8.30am) at Kuantan High Court

Anti-Lynas Judicial Review

A total of 7 citizens from 3 major ethnics of Kuantan have filed for a Judicial Review on the decision of Atomic & Energy Licensing Board (AELB) on the issuance of a Temporary Operating License(TOL) on 18 Dec 2012. The Kuantan High Court extended the hearing date to 29 Jan 2013, to allow the respondent parties to present affidavits.

We appeal for everyone to be at the Kuantan High Court on the 29 Jan(Tue) 8.30am to show support and to let Lynas know that we will fight until the end for a better Malaysia.

＜反莱纳斯司法行动＞ 7名來自3大族群的關丹市民於12月18日入稟關丹高庭，申請司法審核原子能執照局頒發臨時運營執照（TOL）的決定，高庭宣判把案件展延至1月29日，以讓答辯雙方提呈宣誓書。
呼吁群眾在29日（二）早上8時30分出席關丹高庭，反萊納斯，永不言倦，直到它滚回澳洲!

SMSL熱線:012-9823302

Jom Kuburkan Lynas

Press statement for “Bury Lynas with Your Change”

Kuantan Elders Calls for Support to Stop Lynas

22th January 2013

Four respected local residents En. Haji Ismail Abu Bakar, Mr. Ram Punusamy, Mr. Lim Siow Teow and Mdm. Shee Mei Lin on concerned Malaysians and supporters overseas to do their bit to bring about a better change for Malaysia and to help their friends pay Lynas for the court costs.

Lynas has wasted no time to remind residents Mr. Tan Bun Teet, Pn. Hashimah and En. Syed Talib to pay RM 10,000.00 in court costs.

Haji Ismail Abu Bakar, a friend of the three appellants said, “our friends have courageously taken up the legal battle for all of our sake. We are part and parcel of this struggle. Spare your change now to Stop Lynas!”

On the 19th December 2012, the appeal court of Malaysia dismissed Kuantan residents’ appeal for to seek a temporary court order to suspend the Lynas Temporary Operating Licence (TOL). RM10K was awarded to Lynas and the government each.

“The judges have completely disregarded the duty of care of the government and the social responsibility of the Lynas Corporation by imposing a hefty financial burden on caring and hardworking citizens who have been paying taxes to the country.” A disappointed but not defeated resident Mr. Ram Punusamy explained.

The cases and the appeal were supported by affidavits full of warnings for Malaysia issued by sincere independent experts from Malaysia and overseas. The judges ruled that it was pre-matured to suspend Lynas’ licence even on a temporary basis until the judicial review cases are heard.

“Do we really need to wait until our health suffers, livelihoods lost, environment irreversibly damaged and our economy ruined before the court delivers the much needed decision?” asks Mr. Lim Siow Teow a retired businessman who has done more than his fair share to raise public awareness of the Lynas issue despite his advanced age.

In most developed nations, the precautionary principle is adopted when there is a lack of scientific consensus on the risks and if they are serious enough to warrant caution. In the case of Lynas, the Government has persistently brushed aside this very important principle despite its abysmal track record in handling the Bukit Merah tragedy where a rare earth plant 10 times smaller was found to be dumping toxic radioactive waste everywhere! The plant is now closed but not all the contaminated sites have been cleaned up.

“If we cannot manage the Bukit Merah plant safely, how can the Government regulate and manage a plant like Lynas which is at least ten times bigger?? Can Malaysia ever hope to become a developed nation if we continue to behave like a third world country?” asked Haji Ismail.

Lynas has no way of shipping its radioactive waste out of Malaysia and yet the government has allowed Lynas to start the dumping. No detailed environmental impact assessment has yet been done despite the plant being the world’s largest rare earth plant.

Mdm. Shee said “As a mother and a resident, I cannot accept that the government simply allowed Lynas to start operating to pollute our air, our water and our land – all tax free. “

All four residents lamented that “this Government has failed the people and the country. Let’s spare a few coins to show the government and Lynas that we care and we WANT CHANGE! We will join the Stop Lynas campaign to fight until the end for a better Malaysia!”

Bury Lynas with your coins on 24/01/13(Thursday)

Bury Lynas with your CHANGE! 24/01/13(Thursday) Kuantan

Spare your coins for a safer and better future for Malaysia

On the 19th December 2012, the appeal court of Malaysia dismissed Kuantan residents’ appeal to try to seek a temporary court order to suspend the Lynas Temporary Operating Licence (TOL).

The appeal judges ordered the three Kuantan residents Mr Tan Bun Teet, Pn Hashimah and En Syed Talib to pay RM 10,000.00 each in costs to Lynas and the Attorney General’s office. They have courageously taken up the legal action in the interest of the public. Yet the judges have completely disregarded the duty of care of the government and the social responsibility of the Lynas Corporation by imposing a hefty financial burden on caring and hardworking citizens who have been paying taxes to the country.

The Government and Mitsubishi Corporation have failed to properly clean up the toxic mess left behind from the now shut down Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah. The Government remained in denial of its impact on local communities – with unusually high childhood leukemia deaths, miscarriages and birth defects. No health impact study was ever done and victims were left to fend for themselves.

How then can we trust the AELB and the Government to safely and competently manage a plant ten times bigger with much, much more waste and pollution?

We are disappointed that credible warnings issued by independent experts in their court affidavits have not managed to move the judges.

Do we really need to wait until our health suffers, livelihoods lost, environment damaged and our economy ruined before the court delivers the much needed decision?

The judges did not consider the precautionary principle which many advanced nations have adopted. Can Malaysia ever hope to become a developed nation if we continue to behave like a third world country?

Lynas has no way of shipping its radioactive waste out of Malaysia and yet the government has allowed Lynas to start the dumping. No detailed environmental impact assessment has yet been done and yet the government has licensed Lynas to start polluting our air, our water and our land – all tax free. Why should tax payers shoulder this burden??

This Government has failed the people and the country!

Lynas has wasted no time and has demanded for the RM10,000.

Let’s spare a few coins to show the government and Lynas that we care and we WANT CHANGE! We will fight until the end for a better Malaysia!

Rakyat has spoken out on Lynas issue on KL#112

Press statement of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL)

Government has yet to wake up to #KL112 on Lynas
16th January 2013

SMSL is appalled by the on-going insincere public statements from the government on Lynas. Last night Dato’ Seri Mustapha Bin Mohamed, Minister Of International Trade And Industry (MITI) claimed that the plant is safe scientifically and promised to scrutinise the plant and to revoke Lynas’ licence if it is unsafe.

Mr Tan Bun Teet from SMSL said “If the Government is genuinely serious and sincere about safety, take away Lynas’ temporary operating licence (ToL) NOW. How can any responsible Government issue the ToL when Lynas has YET to find a scientifically safe solution to its millions of TONNES of radioactive and toxic waste and when no detailed environmental impact assessment is carried out for a such a notoriously polluting world-scale project!”

“We are tired of this Government and its empty promises. Unless the Lynas TOL is revoked and the entire project re-evaluated with an independent detailed environmental impact assessment done, tax payers and concerned citizens will definitely vote for a change in Government. Enough is enough.” Said Haji Ismail Abu Bakar, another spokesperson from SMSL.

Last Saturday citizens all over the country overwhelmingly turned out at the peaceful mass rally in Kuala Lumpur(#KL112 - The People's Uprising Rally dated Jan 12, 2013)
asking for a change in government. Amongst many who turned up are citizens campaigning for the Lynas project to be stopped.

Mr Tan explained, “Lynas will not be able to remove the radioactive waste from Malaysia. The Australian Government has reiterated many times it will NOT take Lynas’ radioactive waste back. The Basel Convention prevents hazardous waste to be sent and/or dumped in a poor developing country.”
 
The Lynas rare earth processing project is currently undergoing trials to produce rare earth oxides from its ore concentrate from its Western Australian Mt Weld mine.

Ram Punusamy, a Kuantan resident and a Stop Lynas protestor said, “Seriously, which country will be foolish enough to take Lynas’ radioactive toxic waste? Stop fooling us that the radioactive waste will be taken out of Malaysia! Lynas has no way of doing that and we do not want Lynas’ toxic waste turned into commercial products that will end up in our roads, our plantations, orchards and vegetable farms, least of all in our bedrooms, our offices, our work places and our homes!”

SMSL vowed to continue its legal battle to revoke the Lynas TOL to protect Kuantan and the country from the risk and hazards of Lynas’ toxic waste and pollution despite its earlier failed appeal at the federal court of appeal in Putrajaya. Three Kuantan residents were ordered to pay RM10,000 to Lynas and the Government for costs.

Mr Tan Bun Teet, an applicant to revoke the TOL and a spokesperson for SMSL says “We have three judicial review cases pending. We will be armed with strong technical and scientific evidence for these cases. We will FIGHT till the end to Stop Lynas!”

Haji Ismail Abu Bakar, one of the other applicants to revoke the ToL comments, “We have no choice. Kuantan is our home. We have to do everything possible to Stop Lynas”

Lynas has proposed to turn its radioactive waste contaminated with other toxic substances such as chemical compounds and heavy metals into commercial by-products. This will result in its hazards spreading far and wide subjecting more innocent public to health risks and threatening local property value. This kind of practice is illegal in most advanced nations.

“Why should Malaysians be subject to such risks from Lynas? We pay taxes to keep our country going. A foreign company like Lynas that pays no tax should NEVER be allowed to pollute our shore to risk citizens life and future. Once again I call on concerned residents and citizens to stand together with us to do something to protect your family, investment and your future in Kuantan and in Malaysia. The government has failed in its duty of care to protect you. The choice is now in your hands to do something to reclaim your safe space here in this country.” Mr Tan appeals to supporters of the Stop Lynas campaign.

The application for a judicial review case will be heard in court on 29th January 2013.


For further comments, please contact SMSL hotline 012 982 3302

Waste plans innovative but would you bet the public's safety on them?

Lynas' Waste Plans A Toxic Pipe Dream

By Wendy Bacon

Tags:

 

• wendy bacon
 
• malaysia
• lynas
 
• LAMP

Scientists and community leaders are concerned about radioactive waste from Lynas' Malaysian plant but the company representative who took Wendy Bacon's questions brushed off the criticism

This is the second of two articles about Lynas by Wendy Bacon. Read the first here.

Australian rare earth company Lynas has always known it had a waste problem. It plans to process rare earth concentrate, imported from its mine at Mount Weld in Western Australia, at its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Malaysia. It will not only produce rare earths for export but also a huge amount of waste, including more than a million cubic metres of low level radioactive material.

Lynas was originally going to build its LAMP plant in China, which produces more than 90 per cent of global rare earths. But according to its 2007 annual report, it decided to move to Malaysia, because the Chinese government was increasing its control over production, including applying environmental standards more strictly. Lax regulation had led to what a Chinese government white paper described this year as extensive emissions of radioactive residues and heavy metals, clogged rivers, environmental pollution emergencies and accidents causing "great damage to people’s safety and health and the ecological environment".

Lynas was attracted to Malaysia because it was offered tax free status for 10 years. Its first choice was a site in the state of Terangganu where it quickly received necessary construction approvals. Then the Malaysian government asked Lynas to move south to the Gegang industrial estate which was built on a reclaimed swamp, 2.5 kilometres from the port of Kuantan in Pahang. Although the new land cost $30 million rather than $5 million, the company reported that it "had little choice but to accept this", and in any case the infrastructure at the new site was better as it was close to petrochemical plants. For its cooperation, Lynas’s tax holiday, which included all imports and dividends, was topped up to 12 years. The company told the sharemarket that it would start producing rare earths by June 2009.

New environmental approval documents were filed in January 2008. It took only five weeks for the state and local council environment departments and the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board to give the company a construction license. It is clear from the documentation that at this stage the company had only temporary plans for waste storage, had not addressed the possibility that future events including flooding could affect the safety of the site, or selected a permanent waste facility. Despite the delays, shareholders were told that production would still start in 2009. As 2012 ends, the plant — which will take months to become fully operational — received its first rare earth concentrate several weeks ago.

There is an emphasis in the the company’s glossy investor presentations and annual reports of the sustainability of its products, which are necessary for the operation of almost all electronics — from smart phones to missiles. However, there was little mention of the waste — or "residue", as Lynas prefers to call it.

Lynas and its supporters assert its operations are completely safe, but as NM reportedon Monday, others — including scientists — are less confident. Lynas relies on an IAEAreport that found it had complied with international standards in its construction phase, but needed to do more prior to operating. Lynas told New Matilda that since the IAEAreport, it has taken the "additional safety step" of placing "hydrated residues in safe, reliably engineered, elevated storage cells that are designed so that there is no possibility for any leakage of material into the environment". These storage cells will be monitored by Lynas and the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).

The IAEA also recommended that Lynas proceed no further until it had filed comprehensive plans for the permanent disposal of waste, decommissioning of the plant and remediation of the site at the end of its life. The AELB and Lynas issued a joint statement mid-way through last year stating that this work would be done before any rare earths could be imported. But then, earlier this year, the AELB jumped the gun by granting a temporary operating license which gave the company 10 months to come up with these plans. This temporary operating license was then delayed as a result of court action until November.

Shutting Down the Critics
New Matilda asked to interview the Lynas Executive Chairperson Nick Curtis but he was not available. Instead we interviewed a Lynas spokesperson who insists that the waste products of the LAMP project are "not hazardous in any way". He refers to the safety record of Lynas which in "all of its constructions … has been achieved with zero lost time injury."

When New Matilda suggested that problems are more likely to arise in the long term, even 20 or 30 years away, he replied: "I would be lying if I categorically tell you there is no risk in 20 or 30 years time from anything. What I can tell you is that the unanimous conclusion of all of the scientific experts from all of the different organisations that have investigated this material and everything else is that there will be no discernible risk for the public or anyone else from this facility."

But this is far from true.

For example, in April this year, the National Toxic Network (NTN), a community based network "working to ensure a toxic-free future for all", published a preliminary assessment of the waste steam of Lynas’s LAMP project. It was prepared by Lee Bell, a qualified environmental scientist with 20 years experience in analysis of industrial process plants, groundwater monitoring and contaminated sites. He co-chaired the Core Consultative Committee on Waste under the former Labor government in Western Australia, which reformed the state’s hazardous waste sector. Readers of his 29 pageNTN report (pdf), which was reviewed by another scientist, are likely to be concerned about the company’s environmental plans.

I asked Lynas’ spokesperson about the NTN report: "Whatever you think of it, it [the report] is a solid document. It appears to be academically referenced and it also appears to have had some form of review. If you read it, on a number of scores, you would be concerned?"

To which the Lynas spokesperson responded: "The relevant thing there is ‘appears to be’ that is a really interesting phrase … I take you to the disclaimer right at the end [of the report] — ‘Please note this information is provided as general information and comment should not be seen as professional advice’ — on the basis that it ‘appears to be well referenced’, that is a strange disclaimer to have." In response Bell explained the disclaimer is used to indicate the report is intended for public use. Most of Lynas’s reports on the other hand are not easily accessible.

The Lynas spokesman rejected an NTN claim that the LAMP’s location on a reclaimed swamp with a high rainfall is relevant to disposal of low level radioactive waste. Asked if he was aware it was a "marshy site", he said, "I have no idea". He explained that although there is a pristine fishing village and beach at Kuantan three and a half kilometres away on the coast, "if there is a risk there, it is much wider than just Lynas because the LAMP is in a petrochemical zone". In fact, the site is on a reclaimed peat swamp.

Bell doesn’t buy Lynas’ argument that their plant will be yet another structure in the petrochemical zone. "The area may well have been developed for petrochemical plants — but these do not have large tailings ponds full of low level radioactive material," he said. "Refineries usually dispose of their waste by on-site incineration or off-site disposal in stable geological areas. This is comparing chalk and cheese."

Discrediting sources is a familiar public relations tactic used by companies to protect themselves against journalists relying on their critics as sources. So NM asked if the company had prepared a response to the NTN report. The spokesperson said it had but it was "unfortunately contained material before a [Malaysian] court and I can’t share that with you".

The NTN report deals with LAMP waste steams which include non radioactive fluoride, dust particulates, gas, acidic waste water as well as more than 22,000 tonnes of low level Water Leach Purification (WLP) radioactive waste which a year. The most critical issue is the control and disposal of the WLP wastes — which for radioactive material may mean for many hundreds of years.

On the basis of specific criticisms, NTN has two main recommendations. First, that the temporary license issued by the AELB should be revoked until the issue of long term waste disposal is resolved and second, that the plant should not be allowed to operate until the release of mlliions of litres of effuent into the Balok River that runs past the site has been "further modelled and assessed".

"The lack of data on these issues (the impact on the river) means the Lynas EIA is well below international standards and insufficient for granting of operational licences," theNTN says; the LAMP temporary license would never have been granted in Australia.

Novel Solutions — But Will They Work?
Included among the documents filed for the January 2008 approval was a report prepared for Lynas by technical consultants Worley Parsons which revealed some innovative ideas for dealing with the permanent disposal problem.

Worley Parsons worked on the basis that there would more 800,000 cubic metres of the most radioactive WLP waste over 10 years. (The company has stated its mine will last for 20 years and more recently told New Matilda, 50 years). When other wastes were included, there would be 2.7 million cubic meters of waste that need permanent disposal over 10 years.

Lynas’s preferred option has always been to recycle as much of the waste as possible. If safe, recycling has environmental advantages but Worley Parson also noted that by-product production requires time and investment. It may also have little or no commercial value, although this may change over time. Neither Worley Parsons or Lynas have ever suggested that even if recycling options worked, they would account for all dangerous waste, which under a new Australian law for the disposal of radioactive waste cannot be imported back into Australia.

Worley Parsons reported that the WLP residues contain relatively high levels of the nutrients phosphorus and magnesium, which have potential agricultural uses, particularly for palm oil plantations. However, it might be hard to find buyers for fertiliser based on the recycled waste. This option has not been mentioned recently. Instead, the current preferred option is to dilute the radioactive material from 6 becquerals (Bq) to 1Bq and bury it as roadfill and in other civil engineering works.

While Lynas says it is confident in the current by-product plans, they are yet to be tested. Dr Peter Karamoskas, who has been a nuclear radiologist for 13 years and represents the Australian public on the Radiation Safety Committee of Australia’s nuclear safety agency shares none of that confidence.

Speaking on his own behalf, Karamoskas said that to be safe more than a million tons ofWLP residue with a radioactive reading of 6Bq have to be mixed with five times the amount of aggregate to reduce its reading to 1Bq. While he said that a similar process had been used in the Netherlands, the waste was far less radioactive, sitting near 1Bq, which is the threshold for safety.

Karamoskas said it has never been used with material with the LAMP WLP reading of 6Bq. He says that it is extremely unlikely to be a long term solution from a safety or economic point of view: "If this was all ready to go they would be trumpeting it in the public arena … already it looks slippery. If this was possible wouldn’t most countries around the world be doing it?" He thinks it is extremely unlikely that the road mix could be imported, other than to a country with "lax standards" because it would breach international best practice standards.

Karamoskas and the NTN operate on the precautionary principle used in European environmental regulation (and increasingly elsewhere) — you don’t go ahead until you have evidence that processes are safe, which in the case of Lynas is for thousands of years.

Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, a medical doctor and well respected Opposition socialist MP, wrote a long piece explaining the LAMP risks in Malaysian independent outlet Malaysiakini, "Is the anti-Lynas movement being unreasonable?"

"It has always been my belief that I should speak up for or against policies based on facts and principles, and not because of political expediency. To espouse something which is not true or which you do not believe in, just to make you or your party popular amounts to misleading the public and reflects a lack of respect for the public! … We should practice the "precautionary principle". If there is a risk that a particular course of action might bring adverse effects, then one should consider not embarking on that action unless there are very compelling reasons for doing so.

Lynas badmouths its critics for exaggerating LAMP safety risks, while at the same time, its own supporters exaggerate the level of safety. This week, former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed was widely reported in the Malaysian media after he slammed the critics of the project, saying the nation needed to accept that it was not harmful.

"Rare earth is not dangerous like nuclear … rare earth is not yet known to cause diseases among users of its end product," he told a Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM) dinner. The former PM seems not to understand that it is the waste from the rare earth processing, not the rare earths themselves that are radioactive. Even in Malaysia itself, the dangers of rare earth waste are well known because of tragic environmental and health damage at Bukit Merah, the site of an old Mitsubishi plant.

In the commercial world, the precautionary principle is not playing. "Resolving the residue disposal is a risk down the track," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Terry told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last week, adding that the company’s priority in the coming months should be on getting the plant up and running and completing its first sales. The WSJ reported that Lynas has already been forced to raise A$175 million in the past month to help fund the ramp-up of output. It is also entering a much softer rare earth market than what was seen globally 12 months ago.

As Karamoskas put it, the Malaysian public should not rely on Lynas staying in business for the long haul. It needs "credible long term plans" because if Lynas does not stay in business, "the Malaysian public will be left to deal with its problems for thousands of years".

Lynas has sued members of the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas campaign  for defaming the company. This case will be heard early next year along with an appeal against the lifting of the stay on the licence and another application for a judicial review of the granting of the license lodged yesterday.

Wendy Bacon is a Contributing Editor to New Matilda, a Professor with theAustralian Centre for Independent Journalism, an activist, media researcher and blogger at WendyBacon.com She is on the board of the Pacific Media Centre.

Read Wendy Bacon's full bio