Presentation To Wingecarribee Shire Council About Hume Coal
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Transcript of Presentation To Wingecarribee Shire Council About Hume Coal
HUME COAL MINE PLANS: ‘Playing Russian Roule/e with the Southern
Highlands’
Presenta5on to Wingecarribee Shire Council
Wednesday, 26 August 2015 by Peter Mar5n
‘Lowest impact mining system in the
country’ • ‘Zero Subsidence’…and surface cracking
• Bores will lose water but only a ‘temporary impact’…Hume will ‘make good’
• Negligible dust impacts on towns • No issues with trains & traffic • Plenty of local employment…400 construcDon & 300 mining jobs
…and there’s more
• SubstanDal Investment $720m plus $300m • Significant benefits to the local community • No nasty ‘mine rejects’ piles…its placed underground and its just rock
• No sound and light issues to speak of • No impact on protected species like the koala • They’ll rehabilitate and leave it the way it was before!
…Sounds impressive and solves all the issues!
Humes’ Experimental Mining Process
• All techniques have been used…but not together! • No evidence of ‘Pine Feather’ use in similar geology • They’ll use ‘adapDve management’ as they go • 35% extracDon promised but makes no economic sense • No menDon of intensive surface drilling ahead of mine • Mining close to water filled voids an unaddressed mine
safety issue • ‘Zero subsidence’ at this depth defies all coal mining
evidence
…This is high risk with unknown consequences
Groundwater level drops 80 to 160 meters
EXPLORATION LICENCE AREA
AREA POTENTIALLY AFFECTED BY MINING
We predict severe Groundwater impacts…
HODDLESCROSS ROADS
MOUNTGINGENBULLEN
BERRIMA CEMENTWORKS
BELANGLOSTATE
FOREST
MAIN
SOUTH
ERN
LINE
UNANDERRA
- MOSS VALELINE
MEREWORTH
ROAD
OLD
HUME HIG
HWAY
ILLAWARRA HIGHWAY
BERRIMA ROAD
OLDBURY ROAD
GO
LDEN
VALERO
AD
EXET ER
ROAD
HUM
EHIG
HW
AY
DOUGLAS ROADC OLLINS RO
AD
BERRIMAROAD
TAYLOR AVENUE
BELANGLO ROAD
MEDWAY ROAD
MEDWAY
SUTTONFOREST
MOSSVALE
NEWBERRIMA
BERRIMA BRANCH LINE
MEDWAY DAM
MEDWA Y RIVU LET
MO
RRICE
CR
EEK
MEDWAYRIVULET
BLACK BOBS CREEK
WEL
LSCRE
EK
OLDBURY CREEK
WHITES CREEK
WINGECARRIBEE RIVER
STONYCREE
K
LONGACRE
CREEK
BELANGLO CREEK
RED ARM CREEK
ROC
KYCR
EEK
PLANTINGSPAD
E CREEK
BLUE
ARMG
ULLY
MER
EDIT
HP A
RKGU
LLY
FIRE DAM CREEK
BRETHREN GULLY
CH
ERRYTR EE
GU
LLY
BLAC
KS PR IN
GS CREEK
KNAPSACK GU LLY
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GDA 1994 MGA Zone 56 Source: EMM (2015); Hume Coal (2015); LPI (2015)
Primary, secondary and supplementary Koala habitats
Figure 7
Hume Coal ProjectCommonwealth Referral
KEYPrimary Koala habitat in theSouth Coast Koala ManagementArea
Secondary Koala habitat in theSouth Coast Koala ManagementArea
Secondary and supplementaryKoala habitat in the CentralCoast Koala Management Areaand the South Coast KoalaManagement Area
Project area
Main road
Local road
Rail line
Watercourse
… and Hume project a 300 square kilometer impact zone!
Misleading, or a classic case of wishful thinking?
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Source: EMM (2015)
Geological cross-section: during mining
Figure 8
Hume Coal ProjectCommonwealth Referral
Figure 8 depicts a conceptual geological cross section through the former Berrima Colliery and the proposed Hume Coal Mine (during mining). Historic coal extraction at Berrima Colliery is shown in red, while proposed extraction at Hume isshown in red dashes. The groundwater table is shown as a blue dashed line with saturated areas overlaid with blue hatching. Estimated zones of mining induced desaturation are depicted in grey above both the Berrima Colliery and theproposed Hume Coal Mine.
Wastewater and ‘Mine Rejects’ plans highly ques5onable
• Coal mine ‘rejects’ contain heavy metals, salts, toxins and potenDally radioisotopes
• Untreated mine water is similarly polluted • Re-‐injecDng ‘mine rejects’ could pollute the groundwater and create a health hazard
• Wastewater discharge to streams likely to happen due to mine water volumes
• PotenDal hazard for Sydney’s drinking water …Very serious environmental and health concerns
And how do the other claims stack up?
• Subsidence…The evidence is there and it’s not good • Dust, Noise & Light…A case of dodgy data • Trains & Traffic…Serious logisDcal and social issues • Jobs…Good for experienced mining hands, but what about
locals? • Social and Economic Impacts…significant issues not
addressed • Landowners above the mine…’Make-‐good’ claims laughable • Flora and Fauna…highly dependent on water drawdown • Project Economics…So bad why bother?
…a complete house of cards
Playing ‘Russian Roule`e’ with the Southern Highlands
• Humes’ plans are not supported by the evidence • Damage to the Groundwater is potenDally catastrophic • ‘Local jobs’ claims are illusionary • CumulaDve project risks are unacceptable • The project makes no economic sense • Costs to landowners, affected towns and the broader SH community are high
...Why do it?
Questions Please!