Coal mine proposals in the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area are legend and complex.
Key proposals for 2025 seek approvals to reintroduce disposal of huge volumes of mine waste into Sydney’s main drinking water supply, coupled with many changes to coal mining plans through a consent modification process (mods for short).
Over the last couple of years poor handling of mine wastewater has made this large problem worse through its storage in underground mine workings. To rid itself of this mess, Centennial Coal proposes to pump from Angus Place mine a giant underground lake of pollution, about 5GL in size and full of metal salts, into a headwater tributary of the Coxs River.
Centennial Coal recently alleged that from the outset the $200M Springvale Water Treatment Plant (SWTP) failed to deliver a promised zero mine waste release system. Allegedly the SWTP instead has secretly pumped partly treated mine waste into Thompsons Creek Reservoir and from there discharged it at between 550 – 700EC salinity into Sydney’s drinking water catchment at a rate of between 0.8 and 18ML/day. These mine waste discharges are described by Energy Australia as environmental flows. Luckily some dodgy proposals were withdrawn at the end of last year, as the Independent Planning Commission saw through what Centennial was trying to do. Now the scale of this pollution mess has been revealed, with approvals sought to deal with over 50ML of mine waste generated, every day!
These new plans to dump mine waste into Sydney’s water supplies can happen because a previous NSW Government weakened protection laws to overturn a 2017 NSW Supreme Court ruling preventing this sort of pollution. The Minns Government should now legislate to protect water supplies from mine pollution and fix this mega pollution mess.
Eight proposals to change mine approvals in the Gardens of Stone region are expected to go on public exhibition for comment in 2025. During this mine proposal onslaught, its important everyone work to protect Sydney’s water supplies, the World Heritage Area, upland swamps and pagoda landscapes. Democracy isn't a spectator sport and Centennial is banking on crashing through.
Estimated timeline for coal mine proposals in the Gardens of Stone
- SWTP Mod 11 seeks to allow for major Mt Piper Power Plant maintenance work this year by shutting down the plant. This mod proposes to send a shandy of mine waste water to Thompsons Creek Reservoir at a rate of 42ML/day and hence into the Sydney’s drinking water supply at a target discharge salinity of 650EC – SWTP mod 11 is on exhibition till 30 January 2025.
- SWTP Mod 12, with Angus Place mod 10 and Western Coal Services Mod 7 seeks to dump a different mine waste shandy at a rate of 26.5ML/day into Wangcol Creek at 700EC and hence into Sydney’s water supplies - EBPC referral January or February 2025, mod exhibition 2nd quarter 2025.
- Angus Place Mod 9 seeks to extend the mine consent period to allow the above to continue – going to IPC February 2025.
- Angus Place West mine extension threatens swamps in the Coxs River headwaters - EIS exhibition 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2025.
- Springvale mine longwalls 501, 502, 503 – extraction plan to be lodged in 2026 would crack pagoda formations and drain a swamp.
- Springvale West is a new mining proposal at a lower coal mining intensity on Newnes Plateau above Sawyers Swamp Creek with an EPBC referral expected in the 2nd quarter of 2025 and EIS in the last quarter 2027.
- Clarence 918/920 extraction plan – in response to greater than predicted ground surface subsidence, this is a revised plan that seeks confirmation of the reintroduction of longwall mining machines after decades of successful lower intensity coal mining. In response to unacceptable subsidence, it is proposed to require longwall machinery used in shortwalls to avoid certain swamps and instead require partial pillar extraction under swamp areas. EPBC referral 2nd quarter 2025.
- Clarence DA 504 mining area Mod 11 seeks a 5 year mining consent extension to 31 December 2031 and also seeks to use coal wash from this mine to cap a toxic fly ash mess from Wallerawang Power Plant at Sawyers Swamp Creek. Mod exhibition in 2nd quarter 2025.
- Clarence mine extension Mod 8 of DA504 mining area due for EPBC referral exhibition in 2nd quarter of 2025 and Mod exhibition 3rd quarter of 2025. This Mod should be a separate EIS, as it covers a 400ha mine proposal area using an existing consent. Mod 8 also includes a pipeline extension from Clarence colliery to Wallerawang to transfer mine waste water under a Pollution Reduction Program. The pipe is to enable Lithgow City to continue use of mine waste in its drinking water supply once Farmers Creek dam is decommissioned. The drained and decommissioned storage dam will reveal a sediment filled wasteland and there are no plans to restore this mess.
- A new development application for Clarence Colliery integrating multiple approvals will seek permission for another 25 years coal mining, i.e. to 2053 – EPBC referral 2nd quarter 2025, EIS 2nd quarter 2028.
- Airly Mine - where the final extraction plan for the last 4 longwalls (minwalls) is due at end of 2025 - early 2026.
These complicated and varied proposals will no doubt fall behind schedule from what’s described here. For more information on this mega mining mess follow all updates from members of the Gardens of Stone Alliance - Lithgow Environment Group, Blue Mountains Conservation Society, Wilderness Australia, Nature Conservation Council of NSW and National Parks Association of NSW.
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