Will Australia revisit the deal that led a Pittsburgh firm to depend on the ore beneath its trees?

Will Australia revisit the deal that led a Pittsburgh firm to depend on the ore beneath its trees?

Pittsburgh’s Alcoa has slowly spun its global production web around the bauxite ore in Australia, aided by a special political agreement. As the environmental and health tolls grow, regulators, scientists and citizens call for change.

Why two Pittsburgh reporters went to Australia

The reporters in the rented pick-up pulled up behind a truck full of young men whose guns were sticking out the windows. After hearing a warning that the road would be rough, the PublicSource team followed the Noongar hunters into the bush. Minutes later, the reporters found their wheels spinning in sand, when suddenly the hunters’ vehicle zipped ahead.The young Noongar men — members of one of Australia’s largest Indigenous groups — had bagged a…