Norway approves mine's controversial plan to dump waste into fjord

Environmentalists promised civil disobedience after Norway’s government approved a controversial plan for a mining company to dump millions of tonnes of waste into a fjord.

“This is a fjord full of life – to smother it with toxins is insane,” said Arnstein Vestre, president of Young Friends of the Earth Norway, which has been part of protests against the plan. “We have 600 people ready to do civil disobedience actions, and we will not stop until the fjord is safe,” he said.

Announcing its approval of the project on Friday, industry minister Monica Mæland said there would be strict environmental controls and monitoring of waste matter.

“If Norway wants future workplaces and welfare, we must be competitive,” she said. “The minerals industry can be a motor for business and jobs in rural areas.” The mine could generate up to 500 jobs, she said.

Nordic Mining, a Norwegian company, plans to mine Engebø mountain in south-west Norway for rutile, a titanium mineral used for pigments in paint, plastics and paper. It acquired the rights to the Engebø deposit in 2006, and the price of rutile has subsequently risen fourfold. The deposit at Engebø is one of the richest in the world.

Controversially, over the anticipated 50-year life of the mine, the company plans to dump millions of tonnes of waste from its operations into the adjacent Førde Fjord, one of the country’s most important spawning grounds for cod and salmon and a site where whales and porpoises congregate.

The Norwegian Fishermen’s Association criticised what it called a “political decision” to approve the mine, citing fears that heavy metals such as cadmium could be released into the fjord and damage fish stocks.

Marine biologists have warned that very fine waste particles could spread far from the fjord, polluting the food chain and harming its ecosystem. Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg recently compared the country’s salmon industry to Sweden’s furniture giant Ikea in terms of its importance in reducing Norway’s reliance on oil.

Nordic Mining boss Ivar Fossum said in a statement: “The Engebø rutile project will strengthen Norway’s position in the titanium feedstock industry and support regional development and long term growth. Our goal is to establish a profitable mining company in Naustdal based on good environmental solutions and social responsibility.” An objection to the plan from the western region’s Directorate of Fisheries had been overruled, the company said.

It calculates that after 50 years of operation, tailings from the mine – the materials left over after extracting the valuable minerals from the rock – will cover no more than 13% of the bottom of the fjord, which is more than 200 meters deep. The waste would be safely deposited “in the best environmental way and will be free of harmful chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive elements”, it said.

“The government is taking a huge risk with nature,” said Rigmor Andersen Eide, environmental spokeswoman for the opposition Christian Democratic Party.

But the mayor of the nearby municipality of Askvoll said she welcomed the decision with “relief and joy”, while the mayor of neighbouring Naustdal said the campaign of opposition to the mine had helped to make the project a better one.