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Permitting and Regulating — Quartz Hill Molybdenum Mine (Alaska), Yabulu Nickel Refinery (Australia)

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Environments at Risk

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Abstract

Engineered developments nowadays need authority to proceed from at least one controlling agency. And when they do proceed, they are regulated in their operations by government.

“By 1982 U. S. Borax had spent $60,000,000 (of an estimated $400,000,000…) on development…. About $12,000,000 were on the environmental works and permitting…. By 1984 $100,000,000 had been invested with the permit not yet near…. The Quartz Hill development illustrates the complex and costly planning and permitting systems (costly to both developer and government) now in place in countries committed to environmental control….”

“… a discretionary system of permitting can include substantial site-relevant environmental protection requirements. But is the stated intent being met? Certainly the Yabulu refinery has under-taken a substantial assessment programme…. Nevertheless, at Yabulu the discretionary powers exercised have effectively eliminated public openness of assessment results”.

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References

Case 1. Quartz Hill(Alaska)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, University of Victoria, V8W 2Y2, Victoria, B. C., Canada

    Prof. Dr. Derek Ellis

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  1. Prof. Dr. Derek Ellis
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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Ellis, D. (1989). Permitting and Regulating — Quartz Hill Molybdenum Mine (Alaska), Yabulu Nickel Refinery (Australia). In: Environments at Risk. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74772-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74772-4_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-51180-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-74772-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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