Alcoa: Let’s clear the air

• To be specific, the site for our proposed smelter encloses about 1,500 acres, but only about one-third of the land will be used to erect buildings.

• The smelter that Alcoa proposes to build in Trinidad would meet the same environmental, health, and safety standards as those we have operated for many years in highly regulated countries, such as the US, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.

It would also be comparable with the new smelter that we are currently constructing in Iceland — a country with the most stringent air quality standards in the world. Indeed, the proposed Alcoa smelter in Trinidad will meet internationally accepted standards for protection of the environment and human health, such as those enforced by the US Environmental Protection Agency and those recommended by the World Bank and World Health Organisation.

• The design for the Cap-de-Ville smelter will be very similar to our smelter located in S?o Lu?s, Brazil, which operates side-by-side with an Environmental Park on the plant property. The park sits on approximately 1,8009 hectares of mangroves, swamps, and woodlands.

It’s a natural habitat where dozens of birds, reptiles, mammals, and endangered species thrive. Over the years, the facility has helped to re-establish fish and wildlife in the area, both of which were nearly depleted before the park’s creation.

• With regard to the contamination of water supplies, we have said publicly that hazardous waste from the smelter (in the form of spent pot lining) will not be landfilled in Trinidad.

Our current plan with regard to the disposal of spent pot lining is to ship it to our processing facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas.

It will also still be safe to collect and use rainwater in the area near the plant.

As far as discharges of water are concerned, as with any emissions, the intention is to discharge as little water as possible. Any water discharges from the facility will meet necessary quality standards, the water quality will be monitored, and the data associated with this monitoring will be made available to the public.

• About our use of local energy resources, we estimate that our annual contribution of approximately US$100 million to the TT economy (when the smelter is operational) can be obtained from consumption of between 4.6 percent and 6.6 percent of the total gas reserves produced by the country over the next 30 years.

This is truly putting Trinidad and Tobago’s energy to work in TT.

WADE HUGHES

Director, Public Strategy

Global Primary Products Growth — Alcoa