BAUXITE mining company Alcoa say they expect consolidated comments from the EPA this week and will continue to take stakeholder feedback seriously and respond accordingly.

Echo News asked Alcoa for a response to the claim from WA Forest Alliance director Jess Boyce that the large number of submissions showed the company had lost its social licence to operate.

An Alcoa spokesperson said stakeholder engagement had, and would continue to be, a fundamental part of the company’s core operating principles.

“We have appreciated the level of interest and community participation in the important process of public consultation and comment,” they said.

“Community participation strengthens the assessment process, and we look forward to receiving a summary of the comments from the EPA soon.”

The spokesperson said there was a lot of campaigning by “activist groups” during the EPA submission period and many submissions were based off a template.

“About 5900 unique submissions were received from the total of 59,000 submissions with some 90 per cent being proforma or template,” they said.

“There was extensive lobbying by activist groups throughout the public comment period.

“We respect the rights of individuals to voice their concerns.

“Unfortunately, some information that has been publicly disseminated and amplified has created undue misunderstanding and misinterpretation in the community.”

Echo News put to Alcoa that critics said the company had not successfully rehabilitated any land to a suitable ecological standard and asked for a response.

“Claims regarding the rehabilitation work carried out by Alcoa appear to be based on limited research and personal opinion,” the spokesperson said.

“There is a substantial body of peer-reviewed scientific research, dating back to the mid-1970s, that has informed and led to continuous improvement in Alcoa’s approaches to post-mining rehabilitation practices.”

Alcoa claims that since 1975, the company supported the publication of more than 250 refereed journal papers and book chapters, 80 technical studies, and about 60 higher-degree research theses.

Rehabilitation and its definition have become a point of scrutiny for the company as Ad Standards recently ruled to uphold a complaint made against the company for the use of the word.

The distinction between rehabilitation and rehabilitated became a focal point for the company during an ABC interview as they argued their case for why their use of the term rehabilitation followed industry standards and did not mislead.

The Alcoa spokesperson said the company had also been aware of concerns around drinking water.

“While we acknowledge concerns over perceived impacts to drinking water and fauna habitat, the purpose of risk assessments is to identify potential risks whereby appropriate controls and measures can be put in place to mitigate against potential impact,” they said.

“Prior to submitting our final proposal to the EPA for assessment of our future mining plans, we consulted with more than 1400 stakeholders and made several key adjustments.

“In recent years we introduced and implemented mining avoidance zones around the towns of Jarrahdale and Dwellingup demonstrating how community feedback can contribute to operations co-existing with important social values and public amenity.”