ALCOA assurances

TWO SENIOR officials of ALCOA have responded to our recent editorials expressing concern about the health and environment problems experienced with aluminium smelters in different parts of the world. During a visit to our office, they gave the assurance, first, that the company is cooperating fully with the Environmental Management Authority with respect to the $1 billion plant proposed for Union Estate, La Brea, and, secondly, that all of ALCOA’s 28 smelters are “operated safely and in accordance with sound environmental practices.” In a letter to Business Day, Randy Overbey, President, Primary Metals Development who heads the Trinidad and   Tobago project, says the EMA is actively examining the company’s application for a Certificate of Environmental Clearance which would be a precursor to a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment which is “required by Trinidad and Tobago law and by ALCOA’s values.”

Overbey adds: “We would not contemplate building and operating any facility until we were confident that we could do so safely and without causing harm to people’s health or the adjacent environment and the EIA is essential for that confidence.”  In light of what we have gathered about aluminium smelters in different parts of the world, we welcome the assurance given by Overbey and Wade Hughes, Director, Environmental Training and Communication, Trinidad and Tobago Public Strategy Leader. As an expression of ALCOA’s “core values” the officials expressed the company’s commitment to working in close communication with the La Brea community. Overbey recalls: “Within a few hours of signing the MOU, I, along with senior colleagues from ALCOA and from the NEC sat down for lunch with about 20 community leaders in the south west, introduced ourselves and ALCOA, began to answer questions about our company, our approach to business, and about the aluminium smelting process. Two days later, my colleagues participated in a public community meeting in La Brea to extend those preliminary introductions.”

While we welcome ALCOA’s response and the company’s assurances about the safety of the plant it proposes to build at Union Estate, we can only ultimately depend on the vigilance, thoroughness and independence of the EMA in preserving the interest of the country, particularly the people and the environment of La Brea. Also, we expect that whatever the nature of the partnership in this mega-project may be, that the NGC will ensure that proper arrangements are included to ensure the safety of workers at the plant and that satisfactory compensation will be offered to those whose health may be damaged in the process. The smelter will introduce a new industry to TT and may provide substantial opportunities for downstream industries, all of which would benefit the country’s economy. But we must be aware of the serious problems associated with these operations, learn from them, and take effective measures to ensure they are not repeated at the La Brea project.