Alcoa Has Done It Again. Record $55 Million Alcoa Fine

US mining giant Alcoa has just been hit with Australia’s largest ever mining environmental penalty after unlawfully clearing 2,100 hectares of WA’s Northern Jarrah Forest without federal approvals from 2019 to 2025. Critical habitat for three species of endangered black cockatoos. Gone.

But wait, there’s more. Here’s the full rap sheet:

 TREE CLEARING BREACHES (ONGOING)

• Alcoa is under investigation for clearing land just 2 metres from a significant jarrah tree (rules say 10 metres minimum)
• Also allegedly DESTROYED a significant marri tree entirely, cleared in 2024
• Their exemption order can be cancelled if these breaches are confirmed, which would make ALL further clearing illegal
• A Greens MLC literally trespassed onto their mining lease to gather photographic evidence because official monitoring missed it

 THREATENING PERTH’S DRINKING WATER

• Perth’s Water Corporation was blocked from accessing Alcoa mine sites near Serpentine Dam, one of the city’s KEY drinking water sources
• Alcoa fenced off areas in 2025, “significantly diminishing” the Water Corporation’s ability to monitor water quality
• Alcoa repeatedly refused to hand over reports detailing chemical spills, drainage failures, and other incidents near drinking water catchments
• Water Corporation has warned that Alcoa’s $100 million guarantee is NOT enough to remediate a major pollution event
• Internal documents show the agency raised concerns that even the state government didn’t fully understand how critical those dams are to Perth’s supply

 WORK EXPERIENCE STUDENTS BURNED

• In September 2022, a pump discharged a hot caustic solution at Alcoa’s Kwinana refinery
• Students on work experience suffered “very serious” burns to their faces
• The supervisor took students into areas they were not cleared for under Alcoa’s own site policies
• Alcoa pleaded GUILTY and was fined $400,000 under the WA Work Health and Safety Act 2020

 MISLEADING THE PUBLIC

• Community groups reported Alcoa to Ad Standards for alleged misleading and deceptive advertising claims, including that their mining had not impacted Perth’s drinking water and that they had rehabilitated 75% of cleared jarrah forest
• Alcoa also failed to submit key documents on time governing water risk assessment, drainage, and rehabilitation planning. Five months late.

 WHAT THE PREMIER HAD TO SAY
WA Premier Roger Cook said West Australians have been consistently “let down” by Alcoa’s environmental conduct. That is not a quote from a protester. That is the Premier.

This is what happens when compliance monitoring is outsourced, access is restricted, and a company is allowed to investigate itself. Over 700 inspections were conducted under the exemption order and these breaches still slipped through.

If your business operates under licence conditions, exemption orders, or environmental approvals, ask yourself honestly: would YOUR compliance hold up under scrutiny?

At HSE Direct, we help organisations build compliance systems that are proactive, documented, and defensible before a regulator shows up at the gate.

 Get in touch to find out how we can help.

#WHS #EnvironmentalCompliance #Alcoa #JarrahForest #HSEDirect #MiningCompliance #SafetyFail #WorkplaceSafety #WesternAustralia #Regulatory #ESG #OHS