Bowdens Silver

Bowdens Silver Project
My name is Matthew Brown and I appreciate the opportunity to make this submission objecting to the proposed Bowdens Silver Project in Lue.
I am the fourth generation of the Brown family to live in Lue. My daughter who is 2 years old is the fifth generation and her future in Lue is at risk due to the proposed mine. If the mine goes ahead 5 generations will be lost for 17 years of mining. My main objections to the mine are based on environmental and health impacts with water, air pollution and rehabilitation.

Health- air pollution
In the EIS Bowdens say we will not be effected by dust but we have spent the past few years covered in dust from western NSW. How can the mine claim the lead dust from the mine will not travel the short distance to the residences in Lue. The dust will impact our house drinking water, our food in the garden and be all over the surfaces my child will touch.

Environmental impacts- water
At our house we have installed a water bore for water security. I am concerned that the mine will draw too much water from the water table and our bore will be unusable. We also have a concrete water tank for rainwater for house hold and drinking which I fear could be damaged with blasting from the mine. In the EIS Bowdens claim the creek is already degraded and no longer the habitat of native fish. However in the past I have been fishing down from the office house at Bowdens and caught "slipperies" or Fresh Water Blackfish in the creek.
In the EIS Bowdens proposes bringing additional water from Ulan via a pipeline. This water will be waste mining water from Ulan Coal Mine. The EIS it does not say if this water will be treated before piping it to Lue. If it is not treated then it is bringing contaminated water to Lue which could have environmental and health risks.
The maps in the EIS show that the Tailings Storage Facility is being built over significant fault lines. If there was any earth movement the waste in the storage could be leaked out into the surrounding environment causing a lot of environmental damage.

In terms of the rehabilitation of the site where the proposed Waste Rock Encasement ,which they say will be covered with plastic liner and soil but then no trees can ever be grown over the area so that roots do not penetrate the liner. Once the mine stops who will be there to monitor the site for any seepage through the liner or wombats digging through. The EIS does not have any contingency planning for this.
To protect the people and environment of Lue this mine should not be approved.
Regards
Matthew Brown

I object to the proposed lead/ zinc /silver mine for the following reasons;
The health threat to people living in proximity to the site. There is no safe limit to lead. The ore processing and consequent storage of waste will present immediate and ongoing threats to the residents of Lue and the wider community.
The destruction of approximately 381 ha of native vegetation is inexcusable particularly as millions of hectares of vegetation and countless animals have recently been destroyed by bushfires. The wildlife (quite a number of which are listed under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 And the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999) relying on this habitat deserves the protection it affords.
I disagree with the transfer of water from one water catchment to another. Water from the Goulburn river should stay there.

Please see attached

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