But can you tell us what the concerns were? We’re talking about this as a public health issue, essentially. Can you tell us what the concerns were?

“Again, there are a number of issues that are raised as part of the routine process of going back and forth. We’ve done an extensive amount of work to provide additional monitoring.”

Why won’t you tell us what those concerns were?

“Well, again, it is a typical process of evaluating what we’re mining and where we’re mining.”

Get the picture?

Weasel words form part of an attempt by someone in authority to create an impression they are saying something specific and useful when all they’re doing is being vague and obscure.

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If doing so is part of a considered media and communications strategy, then another piece of advice would be don’t bother.

By the time Bear was finished the response from listeners was to suggest Alcoa had something to hide.

Text messages to the station applauded the decision to keep pressing the vice president of a company that enjoys $12 billion in annual revenue because of its extraordinary access and clearing rights to thousands of hectares of forest. Back to the interview:

There was a general concern that the plans you had did not address those concerns. Is that right?

“Well, again, it’s a back and forth process and when we received the information, as we always do, we go out and try to figure out how to provide that additional information and took those steps,” Bear said.

Rob, if it’s been an exhaustive response then the concerns were quite serious, were they?

“Again, it’s a typical process of going back and forth.”

Alcoa has undoubtedly brought prosperity to the towns located near its mine sites. It has kept people employed and given families a future.

As one caller said after Bear’s interview, the world is still consuming aluminium products so expect Alcoa to keep stripping forests of trees to dig up bauxite under decades-old state agreements.

“The product that we make, aluminium, is an incredibly important component of our everyday lives whether it be the car you drive, the mobile phone you use, or the plane you fly in, and it will play an even bigger role into the future,” Bear said.

But the bigger picture, according to public and secret government reports, is the environment.

On one hand, the McGowan government is championing an end to logging in native forests by phasing the industry it out by 2024.

On the other hand, deals done before climate change was ever contemplated still permit mining companies to carry on bulldozing and burning jarrah trees like they simply don’t matter to the landscape.

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They matter to black cockatoos with two species now listed as endangered and one species vulnerable. On 6PR, we asked:

Do you think your company has contributed to that?

“We constantly pursue best practice in our rehabilitation work,” Bear said. “I’m extremely proud of that.”

More than 9000 hectares of forest just north of the Serpentine Dam is the next target for Alcoa’s bauxite strip mining, which is part of an operation that would run until 2035.

I’ll ask you one more time. What were the concerns raised by three government agencies in relation to the water at Serpentine?

“Again, the process of working with the authorities is a common one.”

The public of Western Australia has a right to know those concerns and Alcoa has no right to offer nothing more than weasel words.

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