The NSW Berejiklian government has quietly approved two longwall coal mining proposals under the Sydney drinking water catchment. The first approval was quietly issued in late December 2019 to South32’s Dendrobium coal mine allowing longwall extraction in the catchment for Avon and Cordeaux Reservoirs. The second approval was granted on 16 March 2020 to Peabody’s Metropolitan Coal Mine allowing longwall coal mining under the main tributary of Lake Woronora.
The IPCC, NASA, the CSIRO and all National Academies of Science have all warned of the urgent necessity of moving away from burning fossil fuels for energy. Accepting the advice of scientists, Pope Francis and the majority of the world's faith leaders have written about the moral imperative to transition our economies as rapidly as possible away from their dependency on coal, oil and gas. The conclusion is inescapable that adequate action to prevent runaway climate disruption is incompatible with the approval of new coal mines. The COVID-19 crisis is already demonstrating what happens when the advice of scientists is not taken seriously.
Both of longwall mining approvals were at variance with expert advice of the NSW Government's own agencies. Water NSW states that longwall mining causes subsidence and can cause losses from water storages and streams. In October 2019 Water NSW lodged significant objection to the South32 Dendrobium longwall proposal. Longwall mining of coal under the Cataract Reservoir, approved in 2000, resulted in subsidence and significant loss of water from its waterway and dam.
The NSW Scientific Committee has determined longwall mining to constitute a Key Threatening Process under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.
Recent history drives home to everyday Australian citizens that water is precious and will be ever more so as climate disruption deepens. These decisions are short sighted at best.
The government’s decision also literally dismissed the concerns of the people of Sutherland who are set to be most impacted by the Peabody approval. They gathered 10,000 signatures on a hard-copy petition but the COVID-19 pandemic meant Parliament was closed the day before the debate.
Please write to the Premier expressing your concern over these approvals. A more personalised letter will be more persuasive, so feel free to edit the template. Why not make a copy and send it to your local State member? You can find their addresses listed here.