Dendrobium Mine Extension Project

I support the project, it is good for the economy, jobs for people and is coming coal for steel. This is needed for the Illawarra

Lots of planning done, plenty of jobs to be kept

I support this project. As a current employee of South 32 I have seen the diligent way in which they work and operate. I grew up in Mount Kembla and have no objection to the Mine or continued mining operations in the area.
IMC provides employment opportunities and gives back to the local community.

I strongly object to the proposal on a number of issues.
1 - It makes no sense for this project,which was rejected by the Independent Planning Commission, to be put to a minister of the State to review. With every regard to the skills and expertise of any staff that the minister may request to review the proposal, they would not match the skills and expertise of an independent panel of experts in their field. It will not be a peer review which makes a mockery of the whole process of review for these significant submissions.
2. To provide a fair review it would make more sense to provide the revised proposal to the Independent Planning Commission for further review.
3. I have read the documentation and applied a risk matrix to the proposal with regard to water loss. While the risk to water supply may have been mitigated, water loss is still unacceptably high and the potential for catastrophic damage to the water catchment is possible - even if remote. This is an unacceptable risk to take given how much water is required to support housing and industry developments in the western suburbs of Sydney and indeed the Illawarra and Wollondilly. It will not rain forever and water is our most valuable resource. All the workers in the mining and associated industries and all the residents of the Illawarra and Wollondilly and west Sydney cannot drink coal. Water is not just essential just for humans but also for the fauna and flora and particularly to maintain the swamp lands which are critical to maintaining a clean and reliable water supply to the catchments.
4. To approve this proposal would be morally wrong because it has circumvented due process and because it fails the reasonable person test.
5. South 32 spruiks: 'Our purpose is to make a difference by developing natural resources, improving people's lives now and for generations to come. We are trusted by our owners and partners to realise the potential of their resources'. The proposal to extend mining in the water catchment is not aligned to this purpose particularly in regards to the generations to come. Water security, given climate change, is even more critical than it was two years ago. Trust is also seriously being eroded by this proposal. It appears to me that South 32 really needs to start to transition away from coal mining and become a world leader in driving innovative approaches in partnership with other multinationals to show how pivoting away from coal can be achieved in speedy ways. The community at large is demanding this.
6. While I have pored over the documentation in order to provide commentary - I truly and honestly believe no notice will be taken of my comments. Many of my neighbours and colleagues who have expressed dismay at the proposal to appeal to the minister for review are discouraged and cynical about this process which bodes poorly for South 32 and the State Government. Reputation is key and it is severely compromised.
7. South 32 could work with staff and associated industries to work on a transition plan in order that jobs and business are not negatively impacted in the way the proposal suggests. We need the type of planning that was generated when Newcastle stopped steel making. It can be done!
8. Premier Perottet is a committed Catholic. He voted with his Catholic conscience against the assisted dying bill so perhaps he may need to be reminded of Pope Francis' second encyclical - Laudato si'. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action". How more emphatic does this call to action to protect our environment need to be?

A vital source of employment to our region

I support the expansion to provide jobs for the illawarra area
Also they are a metallurgical coal mine which makes it even more vital to our region

I support this project as it provides ongoing employment to local workers and provides huge flow on benefits to the local community, local contractors and local suppliers. The project will also provide an ongoing local supply of coal for the BlueScope steelworks. The extent of the project has been significantly reduced from the previous application and the environmental impacts are also significantly reduced and manageable. Dendrobium currently successfully mines beneath the catchment.
Please approve this project to provide ongoing local benefits.

Dendrobium Mine Extension Project (SSI-33143123)
I, James Neil Scott Chalmers hereby declare my support for the proposed Dendrobium Mine extensions to Area 6 to provide Coal for Steelmaking at BSL Port Kembla Steelworks and Export.
The Reasons for my support include:
Socio-Economic Benefits
1. The project would provide continued employment and support to the greater Wollongong community, without the risk of unemployment of 650 jobs in the existing workforce within a few years (by 2024).
2. Continued mining would sustain the employment of South 32/Illawarra Coal Dendrobium's workforce, besides creating a further 50 jobs for the life of the Project and an additional 100 jobs during construction. It will also support the continued financial viability of their Appin Mine.
3. The Project will generate around $650 million in royalties, taxes and rates, contributing to local and state infrastructure and services.
4. The Project will result in a total net benefit to the NSW economy of over $2.8 billion (real, undiscounted terms), including over $1.1 billion (real, undiscounted terms) to the Greater Wollongong Region.
5. The Project would allow South32 to continue to support local suppliers and contractors, providing additional security and longevity of employment in the region.

Environmental Measures and Outcomes
1. South 32/Illawarra Coal has already demonstrated responsibility and adherence to best environmental practices, and thus merits support for the extension to Area 6 allowing continuation of mining activities beyond 2024.
2. The Project commits to not longwall mine under water supply reservoirs including dams, or under named watercourses and key stream features.
3. The Project commits to a minimum of one-kilometre setbacks from the Avon and
Cordeaux dam walls.
4. The Project commits to pursue opportunities for industrial users to reuse any excess
mine water.
5. South32 supports biodiversity research in the water catchment, including swamps
and endangered species such as the Giant Dragonfly and the Littlejohn's Tree Frog.

Steelmaking in the Illawarra
1. The Project would provide an ongoing and essential local supply of metallurgical coal to BlueScope Steelworks. South32 currently supplies around 60% of BlueScope Steelworks' metallurgical coal requirements.
2. BlueScope Steel is a major employer in the Wollongong/Illawarra area with 3,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, and if it suffered a loss of access to quality metallurgical coal at accessible pricing, (in my opinion) could well decide to not proceed with the Blast Furnace 6 reline leading to a shut-down steelmaking facilities, with a major loss of jobs and employment in the area.
3. The supply of metallurgical coal to BSL Steelworks is via rail from the pit-head directly to within the steelworks, thus avoiding GHG emissions and the double/triple handling that would entail from supply from other mines in NSW or Queensland.
National Security
1. The shut-down of BSL Steelworks at Port Kembla would leave Australia without a local supplier of flat-products steel, essential for manufacturing and construction, and thus totally dependent on importing steel. At a time of national crisis this could be interrupted by external forces. Becoming dependent on overseas supply of flat-products steel sheet, plate and slabs would place Australia in a poor situation to avoid pricing exploration.
• I have not made a reportable political donation in the previous two years
Yours sincerely,
James Neil Scott Chalmers
02 June 2022.
20 Newbold Close,
Thirroul, NSW, 2515.
Tel: 04 1239 2442
Email: [email protected]

I support the Dendrobium Mine Extension project as will continue to support the community through employment, and providing coal for steel making and job security for wider Illawarra businesses.

I believe that this project will be of great benefit to the immediate community and local economy. The extension project will create jobs which then flows out into the wider community supporting businesses and families in the Illawarra

I am a young person living in Mount Kembla . I don’t think this project considers people like myself . When I am older I want jobs in industries that have a future and don’t damage the environment and make climate change worse . Please do not approve this.

As a member of the Illawarra community, that relies on the water catchment beneath which the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project is proposed, I wholeheartedly object to this project.
The detrimental impacts of this project have already been assessed at length as part of the Independent Planning Commission's decision to reject the previous iteration of the proposal. This edited iteration continues to be problematic on various counts.
First of all, the justification for the Project's declaration as a SSI is unfounded. The insinuation that the coal that would be produced by the project will be relied on by Bluescope is misleading - Bluescope has already secured alternative sources of metallurgical coal and is investing in developing low and no-carbon steelmaking methods. There is no longer sufficient demand for coal from the Illawarra to sustain any prolonged mining projects.
No other water catchment in the world is subject to long-wall mining beneath its channels and adjacent to its water stores. Subsistence from long-wall mining in the region is well documented and any further damage will threaten these systems that are already at strain from accelerated climate change. Healthy water catchments rely of flourishing eco-systems - this will be put at severe risk by this project at a time when water security is increasingly becoming a major concern.
On top of the environmental and social risks associated with this project, the threat to cultural heritage is hugely concerning. There are various sites identified in the EIS, however these sites are viewed in isolation and not in the context of the significance of the area as a whole. It's horrendous that the company's response to these threats was that reducing any impacts "may be less economically viable".

I'm horrified about the govt decision to prioritise a private company's interests over our safe drinking water. No other country would consider doing this. It is reckless for the Planning Dept to disregard the inevitable permanent damage and water loss to watercourses, swamps and aquifers, added to the millions of litres of water lost each day already from Dendrobium’s current and past mining activities. Contaminants will be picked up from the mine risking the quality of the catchment supply for Greater Sydney whilst affecting it's resilience as climate change kicks in. The drying up of the many upland swamps as a consequence of the subsidence and cracking will destroy precious ecosystems and will only increase bushfire risk . Another significant concern is the management of the discharge water from the mine, needing treatment in perpetuity, yet another burden for future generations.South 32 acknowledges that the mine will continue to discharge water long after it has closed. Their own estimate is that the mine will discharge 13 to 15 litres PER SECOND, for the foreseeable future.Bluescope must make provisions for accessing coal from other mines and fast track their transition to low- or zero-carbon steel production using the considerable public funding they have already secured. This terrible decision must be overturned and the water catchment protected and treated as essential infrastructure for a sustainable future.

I support this project. Ongoing employment for not only the people who work at Dendrobium Mine but also for many many businesses in the Illawarra.

I am a recently retired doctor living in Sydney and I have a lifelong interest in environmental impacts on human health - which are becoming increasingly severe with climate change.
This project would more than triple direct emissions from the Dendrobium mine. The extension alone, if approved, is likely to have the 4th highest emissions of all NSW's coal mines. Coal mines account for 70% of the top industrial emitters in NSW. The UN has made it very clear that there must be no new coal mines if we are to avoid worsening catastrophic climate change. The IEA has called for the elimination by 2030 of all avoidable methane emissions. Despite this, there is no effective regulation in NSW to drive down Scope 1 & 2 emissions from coal mining.
The project will further undermine an area long ago set aside to protect supply of drinking water to Sydney and the Illawarra. It will compound the total Dendrobium loss from surface watercourses to 1450 ML/yr. Dendrobium groundwater take is expected to increase by up to 5900ML/yr. At it's last assessment of this same longwall mining extension, the IPC described a risk of "potentially irreversible impact upon the quantity and quality of surface water in perpetuity."
Sixteen nationally significant and threatened swamps will be undermined, risking irreversible damage, scientists say. In refusing consent, the IPC found that for the swamps there was no documented reliable rehabilitation technique. South 32 has refused to seriously consider the 'bord and pillar' mining method, which would employ more people and reduce impacts on groundwater, according to Water NSW.
Since an earlier version of this project was knocked back by the IPC, it has been declared State Significant Infrastructure after pressure by mining interests - thus bypassing the IPC, a very unhealthy precedent for coal mines. The State Government's justification is the project's claimed importance to the Port Kembla steelworks - even though South32 has said that Bluescope Steel could find alternate local sources of coking coal, a point the IPC concurred with. And Bluescope are developing several measures to reduce and eliminate coking coal use. Thus the Minister for Planning should use his power under the EP &A Act to ask the IPC to review DPE reports, including security of Bluescope's metallurgical coal supply.
I most strongly object to this dangerous, unnecessary project , especially given the terrible effects of climate change already upon Australia and the world.

WesTrac NSW supports this project.

Continued coal mining in the Illawarra area is critical for both job retention and creation. The coal mined from Dendrobium is critical to infrastructure growth both nationally and internationally, it is for these reasons i strongly support the extension project

I thoroughly support the Dendrobium Mine Extension project and the benefits it will create both socially and economically for the wider Illawarra Community.

I am confident that the environmental impact will be managed effectively and that the rewards greatly outweigh the risks.

I am deeply concerned that a private coal mining project previously rejected by the Independent Planning Commission has found a way around this by being designated “State significant infrastructure”.
As a doctor I’m mindful of the negative impact on the quality of our water supply, and understand that no other city in the world allows this type of mining in a public water catchment area. Water quality is one of the top determinants of a healthy community. In addition I’m concerned about the clash with our commitment to reduce carbon emissions by moving away from coal and gas projects, the environmental impacts on endangered Koala habitat and the disregard for indigenous cultural heritage sites.
I object to this proposal and ask that it be rejected in accordance with the original decision from the Independent Planning Commission.

I object to this project because:

1) It will damage Sydney and Wollongong’s drinking water catchment
2) It is not consistent with current land use of the area as a water catchment
3) It will worsen water quality
4) It will damage Aboriginal cultural heritage
5) It will harm koalas and critical koala habitat
6) It will damage aquatic ecosystems
7) It will damage critical wetland ecosystems
8) It will increase bushfire risk
9) It will undermine efforts to transition to sustainable jobs in the region
10) It will result in an additional ~88 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions

REFERENCES

[1] Australia’s solar tsunami to trigger coal collapsehttps://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/25/alan-kohler-solar-coal/

[2] Solar Power Is Winning From the Energy Crisis. Wind Is Losinghttps://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-04-11/solar-power-is-winning-from-the-energy-crisis-wind-is-losing-out-to-red-tape?fbclid=IwAR0amleY8q_bGcdefprZDECZ964q4X4LOmu1iVEqVI-xkcSoBB75e2zmzwo

[3] Green steel tracker https://www.industrytransition.org/green-steel-tracker/

[4] Dendrobium mine expansion won’t threaten BlueScope’s existence, says Cr Cath Blakeyhttps://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7543140/threat-to-steelworks-overblown-if-mine-closes-says-councillor/

[5] NSW hydrogen plan puts renewables on ‘level playing field’ with fossil fuels, gas producer says https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/nsw-hydrogen-strategy-slashes-green-hydrogen-price/100539342?fbclid=IwAR1uc_E9EuNcctwlqP6YkZfohhUgyDi4GBHX9JhQ3o22LQb-78Bjzv6icfY

[6] Wollongong industry, academia team up to tackle decarbonisationhttps://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7725968/wollongong-industry-academia-team-up-to-tackle-decarbonisation/?cs=300&fbclid=IwAR2uGhRL7Blvgg3IOrnE6jaHz0b8U5XEzTK8Aai3XZnJ0yCtsgGnSfG-dos

[7, 8] Subsidence Report for Dendrobium Mine, MSEC, 2019, pp 35 – 37, accessed at: https://pp.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/dendrobium-mine-extension-project

[9] MINING https://www.waternsw.com.au/water-quality/catchment/mining

[10] EPA fines Dendrobium Coal $15K for alleged water pollutionhttps://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/media-releases/2021/epamedia210401-epa-fines-dendrobium-coal-$15k-for-alleged-water-pollution

[11] ILLAWARRA WATER SECURITY PROJECThttps://www.waternsw.com.au/projects/greater-sydney/illawarra-water-security-project#stay

[12] First Nations leaders urge NSW to adopt Juukan Gorge inquiry protectionshttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-19/nsw-government-urged-to-adopt-juukan-gorge-findings/100550518?fbclid=IwAR2uGhRL7Blvgg3IOrnE6jaHz0b8U5XEzTK8Aai3XZnJ0yCtsgGnSfG-dos

[13] Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Enquiry, p. 241, accessed at: https://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/publications/categories/nsw-bushfire-inquiry/

[14] Cowley, K.L. & K.A.Fryirs (2020) Forgotten peatlands of eastern Australia: An unaccounted carbon capture and storage system. Science of the Total Environment. 730 (2020) 139067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139067

[15]Start with steel: A practical plan to support carbon workers and cut emissions https://grattan.edu.au/report/start-with-steel/

[16] Renewable Energy Employment in Australia https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/institute-sustainable-futures/our-research/energy-futures/renewable-energy-employment-australia

[17] South32 cuts Illawarra energy coal sales as COVID, wet weather hit productionhttps://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7714785/south32-cuts-illawarra-energy-coal-as-covid-wet-weather-hit-sales/?cs=300&fbclid=IwAR33DLH-DdX7QwE8yO8NlD5BX3SnS9VoUsNJvSfFGorSHwcPGlJXrXcXoSE

[18] The largest Scope 1 GHG emitting facilities in Australia (excluding the electricity sector) are covered by the Australian Government’s Safeguard Mechanism. Facilities that emit more than 100,000 t CO2-e per annum are required to report to the Clean Energy Regulator.

[19] NSW DPE, January 2022, Narrabri Underground Mine Stage 3 Extension Project (SSD 10269) | Assessment Report , pg 55