Mod 14 - Water Discharges + Coal Extraction

I object to the latest proposal by Moolarben Coal Operations. It's unacceptable. Australia is not doing its bit to fight Climate Change, that's why increasing coal production shouldn't be approved. There's more coal presently being produced in NSW than the Adani Company is proposing in Queensland. How much environmental vandalism is enough?

Moorlabern Coal Operations mine coal very, very close to 'The Drip', the equivalent for us of the 'Three Sisters' in the Blue Mountains. It would be unthinkable to allow more coal mining next to such an icon and then discharge excess salty water in the nearby creeks!
Already the big unending flow happening right now in the Goulburn River doesn't feel natural. We know it's not pure water.
The Moorlabern mine is also surrounded by other National Parks which our Government should be protecting. Think endangered birds, koalas,etc.
Biodiversity offsets have been proven to be a joke and the present one hasn't even been finalised in this proposal. Why?
I have friends who have to suffer from the dust, noise and light from the Moolarben mine. Would you agree to have this happening on your doorstep?

This further extraction of coal should definitively not go ahead.
Yours sincerely.

Moolarben Coal Operations Stage I Mod 14, Stage 2 Mod 3:
Objection to the proposal to once again extend Moolarben Coal Operations.
I am a resident of the Central Tablelands of NSW, and am seriously concerned about the Government's lack of vision and responsibility with regard to environmental factors in our State's management. I grew up in Muswellbrook and am all too familiar with the land degradation and pollution that goes hand-in-hand with coal mining.
My prime concern with regard to this current Moolarben proposal is the continuing and increasing damage to surrounding areas of already endangered ecological communities and numbers of both iconic and threatened bird and animal species. Moolarben and its neighbour Wilpinjong already impose significant degradation in a region which should be protected, being located adjacent to the Goulburn River and particularly the National Park. Impacts on the river in particular will be unacceptable.
I note that the offset strategy has not been finalised, but is, in any event,
highly unlikely to adequately compensate for the loss of existing environment. I would further question the adequacy of the biodiversity assessment that has been prepared.

The increase in carbon emissions will have a cost to the environment that has not been adequately assessed. The NSW Government should be downgrading coal-mining activities at this point in time, and looking to cleaner energy production.

My submission is uploaded as a PDF document

Please find submission on behalf of Bathurst Community Climate Action Network Inc.

Submission of Objection to Moolarben Coal Operations (MCO) Stage 1 Mod 14, Stage 2 Mod 3
A primary critical reason why this modification should be rejected is the impact it will have on the Goulburn River. The proposed increase of licensed water discharge to 20 million litres daily will even further degrade water quality and hence create extra stress on the ecology if the River.
No independent study has been done on the cumulative impact of mining from the Ulan and Wilpinjong and Moolarben mines on the Goulburn River headwaters. To add 20 million litres daily to the discharges from the other mines without such a study is irresponsible. It will change the natural river flow and could add up to 30 tonnes of salt daily.
Given that MCO have never used their current discharge licence of 10 million litres daily, why do they need to double that? The impact of 10ML should be assessed first. Plus their Water Management Plan on previous approvals (supposed to be by October 2016) is still not available.
It does not seem that the River's health is being adequately considered or protected, especially as regard salinity, the increase of which will threaten the Goulburn River NP, downstream water users and the Hunter River Salinity Trarding Scheme. There has not been any accounting for the extra salt from the water treatment plant for dust suppression, which drains into sediment p
MCO should be limited to the same salt discharge of 500 EC as Wilpinjong, not the excessive 900 EC.
There has been no assessment of the longterm impacts of dewatering above the mine, or on springs. For example, MCO modelling did not predict the 5ML per day into Underground One.
I am also concerned that the agreement in The Drip Deed, for extra areas of land to come under State Conservation Area protection has not been honoured by the due date of March 2017. MCO must do this before being given any further permissions.
Additionally lacking is the biodiversity offset strategy, which has not been finalised. Yet under this modification proposal, two areas of critically endangered ecological communities will be destroyed - despite nine threatened bird species and five threatened microbat species being recorded there. Habitat is also likely to be lost for the Koala, Regent Honeyeater and Brushtailed Wallaby.
Locally, compliance with the noise and dust conditions is based on ongoing purchase of properties not given acquisition rights in past approvals. The grave accumulating social impacts of this remain unassessed. People MUST be treated as more than collateral damage.
And of course there is the inevitable and unacceptable impact on global warming from increasing the coal production to 22mtpa until 2038, which will NOT guarantee job security. It will guarantee to increase carbon emissions and fuel climate change, the impacts of which are evident and worsening; we should not be culpable of adding to the damage and we certainly should take these adverse impacts into account.

My name is Melissa Gray, I am a freelance bookkeeper and a Healthy Rivers Ambassador in the Central West of NSW. I have lived in regional communities the majority of my life, and fully appreciate the value of healthy rivers to towns and farm land - culturally, ecologically and commercially.
I object to the expansion of the Moolarben Coal Operations (MCO) Stage 1 Mod 14, Stage 2 Mod 3.
Grounds for my objection:
MCO seek to increase their licenced water discharge into the Goulburn River to 20 million litres per day, further degrading water quality and causing additional ecological stress to the river.
I am worried about a lack of transparency of the processes required to offer the public information about how an operation may impact river health, as the Water Management Plan for previous approvals, which was required by October 2016 is not available.
The groundwater modelling assumptions do not reflect the potential impacts on springs and the upper groundwater systems. The modelling of the mine failed to predict the 5 million litres per day of groundwater that makes its way into Underground One. Groundwater is very important and must be protected, poor current modelling and failures arising from previous modelling used to predict operational impacts on groundwater imply the standards in modelling are not rigorous enough.
The landscape above the mine will be dewatered - the long term effect of draining the landscape has not adequately been assessed.
Salt is damaging to fresh water rivers and to all the life that relies on them. Increasing the total salt load of the Goulburn River will threaten the Goulburn River National Park and impact downstream users.
The Hunter River catchment includes a large proportion of salt bearing sedimentary rocks and soils, and surface and underground drainage from this contributes natural salinity to the river. But activities such as coal mining, power generation, industry and land clearing have increased the level of salinity in the river. The NSW Government's Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme aims to manage saline water discharges to minimise their impact on irrigation and other water uses, and on the aquatic environment of the Hunter River catchment. Adding salt to the Goulburn River puts pressure on the effectiveness of the trading scheme.
There has been no independent study of the cumulative impact of mining on the headwaters of the Goulburn River. When combined with Ulan Coal and Wilpinjong Coal mines' already approved mine water discharges, the cumulative impact of an increase to MCO's proposed discharge will alter the natural flow regime and dump up to 30 tonnes of salt per day into the river system.
Brine from the water treatment plant used for dust suppression will drain into sediment dams that are designed to overflow into the river, adding more salt that hasn't been accounted for.
The current MCO discharge licence of 10 ML/day has never been used. They are now applying to double it to 20 ML/day, however the existing licence of 10 ML/day should be enough. Wilpinjong Mine has a salt discharge limit of 500 EC (electrical conductivity units), and MCO should have the same limit, not 900 ECs.
An increase in coal production at MCO will not increase job numbers or security. A healthy, resilient river will continually provide communities and wildlife with the essential life giving resource of clean fresh water, and is a much more valuable asset for society as a whole than a bigger coal mine could ever be.

Please find attached our submission objecting to the expansion of this mine.
Regards
RHHFFPS

Please use this submission marked final. When finalising the submission I lost the first paragraph so would prefer if you used this one.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Regards
Cathy
RHHFFPS.

As attached

Please find attached submission for Hunter Environment Lobby Inc - please acknowledge receipt by return email.
Thank You
Jan Davis

Submission atached

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Bradley

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