Community empowerment and cooperation in environmental monitoring of extractive sites: Paths to a state-wide integrated system

Abstract

In Queensland and elsewhere, there is a paucity of environmental data on abandoned extractive sites, and the public service agencies responsible for determining and monitoring the environmental conditions on these sites are inadequately resourced. There is also a paucity of publicly available environmental data on operational extractive sites (and little independent monitoring of these sites), and a lack of public trust in both the companies that conduct extractive operations and the government that oversees these operations. The requisite knowledge could be gained and much trust regained by empowering local communities and NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) to participate in joint community-industry-government environmental monitoring of extractive sites, where the results are uploaded to public-access online databases and reporting systems. The reward for the communities would be participation in the decision-making process on natural resource management issues - particularly issues relevant to extractive sites. The environmental information relevant to decision-making on extractive sites is presently stored on multiple databases (some of which are multi-purpose databases), if it is stored at all. The value of the stored data is diminished, because it is difficult or impossible to assemble all the information required for optimal decision-making on any issue involving extractive sites. To gain important social benefits, the data needs to be integrated and made publicly available. However, if government and industry fail to heed legitimate community concerns regarding extractive sites and fail to involve communities in this joint endeavour, communities will still carry out environmental monitoring - but with the goal of gathering evidence in disputes with government and industry. This paper defines an ‘extractive site’ as a ‘mine site or oil/gas field’.