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Over 400 people wrote to NSW Planning Minister, Paul Scully, asking that he refer these plans to Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and seek an independent review of Angus Place and Springvale mine proposals that could damage nationally significant water and conservation values.
Centennial Coal proposes to discharge of millions of litres of contaminated water into a stream that feeds Sydney’s main drinking water source. This proposed discharge would by-passes the purpose-built water treatment plant that is supposed to treat all of Centennial's mine water.
It’s part of the company’s broader plan to expand its Angus Place coal mine – beneath the protected Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. Plans like these pose serious threats to community health, to water, and to our environment – so they must be thoroughly scrutinised.
Centennial’s water consultants claim that as the current mine water management system is at capacity, and this flips the mines’ water management into a new paradigm where another solution is required. This paradigm shift is another example of an unexpected outcome beyond this mine's approval and related to these mines' far-field impacts, where mining causes damage outside the consent area.
I believe that no other underground coal mine in the world, and certainly none in Australia, produce more contaminated water than the 40ML/day from Springvale-Angus Place mines. And now an additional 10Ml/day of untreated mine water is proposed to be discharged directly into Sydney's water supplies. These mines are bleeding the Gardens of Stone region dry. Its an intolerable situation with multple environmental impacts. Patience with these unexpected levels of environmental abuse is wearing thin...
Keith Muir