Over 1,000 Indigenous landowners are appealing a decision by Madang’s National Court that permits a Chinese mining company to dump toxic waste from a nickel mine and refinery into the Bismarck Sea. The Indigenous landowners live along Papua New Guinea’s Rai Coast and depend on the sea for their sustenance and livelihoods. In July, the court found that their concerns about the potential “catastrophic” impacts of ocean dumping were well founded, but it ruled that banning the ocean dumping would have adverse effects on the mining company, its workers, and investor confidence in Papua New Guinea.  

The court acknowledged that the plaintiffs proved their assertion that Ramu NiCo’s ocean dumping scheme is a “public and private nuisance” and a “breach of National Goals and Directive Principles.” It found that the ocean dumping was highly likely to be an “environmental catastrophe” and that the lives and futures of thousands of coastal people would be seriously damaged as a result, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Tiffany Twivey.  The plaintiffs also showed that the mining company could use an alternative land-based tailings storage facility instead of dumping waste into the sea.

Nevertheless, the court denied the plaintiffs’ call for a permanent injunction against the ocean-dumping scheme on the grounds that the company and national economy would suffer monetary loss if the project were further delayed. 

The 1,083 Indigenous landowners immediately filed for a temporary injunction against the ocean dumping, pending their appeal to the Supreme Court. A decision on the temporary injunction is expected on August 19.

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