Dendrobium Mine Extension Project

I oppose this project on the grounds that it will threaten the water supply, put biodiversity at risk and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions at a time when we must take all possible action to halt climate change.

I think this will have a major impact in the water supply

Benefits all government bodies locally, state and nationally which will have a flow on effect to the people.
Provides a future workplace within Illawarra and surrounding areas for thousands of families both directly and indirectly.
Coal from Dendrobium Mine is some of the best in the world which is used for steel making. The country needs to utilise our metallurgical resources that we have.
The setbacks from water courses and bodies are strictly followed as per the Environmental Impact Statement.

The project is critical to the local community including the sustainability of current employees and supporting businesses. The project has been modified to address previous concerns relating to the catchment areas and should therefore be approved to proceed.

I object to the Dendrobium Mine Extension.
Nowhere else in the world allows longwall mining like this underneath publicly owned water catchments.
Longwall mining damages reservoirs causing cracks in rock beds that lead to an increased presence of heavy metals such as iron, zinc and nickel.
Water NSW has opposed longwall mining under Sydney’s water catchment because an estimated 5 million litres of water a day is lost from existing mining operations.
This proposed extension is unconscionable.

This project will support thousands of jobs in the Illawarra. I am in full support of this project.

I support the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project submission.

It will enable the continuation on mining activities within the existing Dendrobium mine lease, extending the mine life by about 20 years. This secures the ongoing employment of 650 staff, continues the support of local businesses and jobs, and allows for continued investment with the local community. The Project is also creating 200 jobs during construction and 50 permanent roles.

The application is well considered, with substantial changes to the mining footprint to reduce environmental and cultural impacts. The setbacks from key dams by 1km and 400m from key streams and rivers reduces water loss.

I believe the project offers a balanced approach to realising the resource and managing environmental impacts.

This is a valuable project that's needed for the local community.

I believe the proposal is at odds with the economic move away from the use of coal in heavy industry. Further I believe the proposed expansion poses a serious risk to both the water table and water supplies in the catchment area where there is already existing water supply issues as well as damage, suspected to be associated with existing mine site, to the creek beds and tributaries. The potential risk to aboriginal heritage is also at odds with acknowledging the rights and importance of the aboriginal custodians of our country. In all of these areas I am not convinced the necessary safeguards have been put in place.

See attached letter

The Dendrobium Mine Extension Project approval is essential for the continuation and support of local jobs and steel making in the Illawarra and Australia.
The project is not only going to protect over 650 local jobs, it will also create 100 project construction jobs and 50 new operational roles.
The revised plan ensures that mining can co-exist with the governments objectives for long-term sustainability of Sydney's water catchment.
It will not only give myself but my partner and friends / family continuation of employment with South32 but it will also keep so many other companies and contract partners in business. This is my livelihood, my career and future at stake. Please approve the extension and help keep jobs in the Illawarra.

The Dendrobium Mine Extension Project approval is essential for the continuation and support of local jobs and steel making in the Illawarra and Australia.
The project is not only going to protect over 650 local jobs, it will also create 100 project construction jobs and 50 new operational roles.
The revised plan ensures that mining can co-exist with the governments objectives for long-term sustainability of Sydney's water catchment.
It will not only give myself but my partner and friends / family continuation of employment with South32 but it will also keep so many other companies and contract partners in business. This is my livelihood, my career and future at stake. Please approve the extension and help keep jobs in the Illawarra.

The Southern Coalfield economic ecosystem is not as important as the actual ecosystem in the water catchment area above the mine, which cleans water going into the dams used by Illawarra residents. Currently the dams are compromised due to mine subsidence; mining in the catchment must stop immediately to preserve the aquifers for future generation. If there was an El Niño happenning at the moment people would be more alert to the dangers posed by a compromised catchment area- it was only a few years ago that water from Tallawa Dam was being transported to drought stricken parts of NSW. And yet, we are damaging our precious catchment by extracting fossil fuels.
BHP talks green about using biochar but has not given up dependency on metallurgical coal, and the export profits are unjustified given the above stated risks.
I am a local teacher and regularly discuss these issues as a case study of irresponsible mining causing irreversible damage to the Illawarra water catchment. The reckless damage to the rock strata of the catchment is undeniable and continuing to destroy the water catchment that trespassers get fined thousands of dollars for treading on is unfathomable. South 32 should factor into it's economic ecosytem a water bill that will stretch through the coming droughts of the centuries of humanity that lie ahead, if indeed our species lasts this long. I worry for my children's generation, let alone their children.

To whom it may concern, I would like to make comment on the Dendrobium mine extension. There are many economic benefits to the Illawarra including employment. There are also many environmental impacts that are report-ably caused by mining in the area. I do hope that the royalties paid by the mining company are enough to cover the costs of our priceless water catchments destruction. To quote a Cree Indian prophecy “ you cannot eat money.” I do hope that after the mining company has made their profits and leave our area without even a thought, our region including Sydney can use our royalties to ship in water from undisturbed water catchments around the country. Maybe between now and the proposed mine end of life the mining company will have technology to repair the earths layers to stop ground water from entering the mine and remain in the dam. Only a few thoughts but remember we can’t eat money. Enjoy the decision making.

Submission of OBJECTION to the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project (SSI-33143123)

Dear Jessie Evans and the Department of Planning and Environment,

I strongly object to the proposed Dendrobium Mine Extension Project (SSI-33143123). The Independent Planning Commission’s (IPC) rejection of the mine’s extension in February, 2021 should be upheld as the potential impact on the Metropolitan Special Area in the Environmental Impact Statement on exhibition, while offering some trivial re-design, does not address the key concerns of the IPC and is potentially disastrous for Australians now and in the future.

Oversights addressed in the Environmental Assessment include:

1. Impacts on water resources;
2. Biodiversity impacts;

The 60% reduction in longwall mining area proposed is inadequate to guarantee no impact on critical state water supplies. Biodiversity reductions in the proposed mining Area 5 cannot be mitigated given this is a critical wildlife corridor for endangered species and disturbances to the ecology, even a reduced range in the original area proposed, for swamps would have an unknown and potentially devastating effect on the mobility and conservation of fauna and flora including: Daphnandra johnsonii, Lathamus discolor, Pimelea spicata, and Litoria aurea. Many of these populations are newly discovered and it is not conclusively known where they exist within the area in question.
There are many anomalies that should raise concerns about this project’s impact on the environment from the documents on exhibition:
1. Indications of macroinverterbrate impact are presented in the vicinity of proposed longwalls in the Appendix E Aquatic Ecology Assessment which suggests “impaired macroinvertebrate assemblages” (p.iii), but no evidence that this is not caused by proximate mining and drainage leakages is given or research proposed, rather speculation is offered about “dissolved metals” associated with local geology, which is a highly dubious conjecture. The evidence of impact demands further research and caution in decisions on the Study Area. There is bias here that demands inquiry.
2. There is evidence from decades of research (see Theischinger and Watson, 1984 Australian Journal of Zoology) that two threatened aquatic macroinvertebrate species (Adam’s Emerald Dragonfly Archaeophya adamsi Fraser and Sydney Hawk Dragonfly Austrocordulia leonardi Theischinger) occur in watercourses within the Study Area, yet Cardno do not offer any guarantee the expansion would not impact these important species. The latter has been documented as occurring in Woronora River near Heathcote and Carloo Pool, Engadine and more long-term and non- intrusive research (i.e., not as a result of contingency plans in the wake of subsistence) is needed to ensure populations that exist in the Study Area are not impacted.
3. Watercourses provide habitat for native species including species of native fish. Cardno speculates that these would not be ‘threatened’ by the extension, but there is no evidence given that impact can be ruled out beyond reasonable doubt and Cardno note that Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica), listed as an Endangered fish under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 (the FM Act) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act), has been recorded previously in Avon River and has potential to occur in Lake Avon (p. iv). Cardno cannot rule out that the Study Area plays a critical role in breeding cycles for this and other endangered and threatened fish since Area 5 is directly proximate to the longwalls in the Study Area.
4. The loss of perched swamp aquifers and disturbance to the shallow Hawkesbury sandstone aquifer is not an acceptable risk and this is a critical potential impact.
5. As Cardno make clear (p. v) mining induced subsidence is likely also to impact stygofauna expected to be present in the Study Area. Stygofauna include crustaceans, worms, snails, insects and a few other invertebrate groups and a reduction in this population would have a devastating impact on the biodiversity and ecological integrity of this area.
6. The conclusion made by Cardno that “biotic indices derived from AUSRIVAS aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling in watercourse adjacent to the Study Area indicative of degraded habitat or water quality, these more likely reflect natural conditions and the naturally low pH of stream water within the catchment, rather than any anthropogenic disturbance” (p. 32) is not supported by evidence and this lack of research demands further inquiry and the rejection of this proposal. Scientific evidence must be found to support this speculative claim before any expansion can be accepted.
7. As Cardno conclude: “These predicted impacts, primarily subsidence induced fracturing, groundwater level reductions, flow diversions and loss of aquatic habitat in drainage lines could potentially be relatively significant at a local scale” (p. 44). Any significant impacts in the Study Area are an unacceptable risk and cause for deep concern. Once mining starts, then it is already too late.
Given these uncertainties about biodiversity impacts that are raised by Cardno in the documents provided for public exhibition the judgement of the Independent Planning Commission should be upheld and expanded. The Contingency Measures outlined on p. 43 would be detrimental to biodiversity (backfilling, grouting, sediment fences) and could contaminate the catchment water supply and disrupt ecosystems. Moreover, if these contingency measures are proposed by Cardno then the possibility of fracturing is real and this is an unacceptable risk.
The Southern Coalfield economic ecosystem has a limited lifespan of half a century. Children and grandchildren of its employees today will not be able to work in this industry. The expansion of coal mining under a critical water resource is deeply short-sighted and problematic. Water security for a growing metropolis is a fundamental duty of government. Coal mining expansion offers no sustainable or long-term solutions to employment, the mitigation of climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gases, and an increase in biodiversity for the Illawarra. The NSW Government should immediately divest in fossil fuels and re-train and re-employ employees of the coal industry in the green economy for renewable energy, in order to meet Australia’s strategic needs of energy security and net zero emissions.

I support the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project for the following reasons:
* The Dendrobium mine mines metallurgical coal used to manufacture steel, and it does not mine coal used for energy. Until there is an alternative way to make steel or develop an environmentally friendly product that can replace steel, I support the responsible mining of metallurgical coal at Dendrobium.
* It provides stable jobs at the mine site and employs local businesses that provide goods and services to support the mines' operation.
*The mine generously funds community projects.

This project will provide ongoing economic benefit to the greater Illawarra region not just to directly employed persons but to the 1000's that benefit from the flow on affect of Illawarra Coal and Blues cope continuing operations in the region

Yes under the new and changed submission it should be granted

I oppose this project. I live very close to the Dendrobium mine and as such witness how they go about their operations on a daily basis.

Nothing I have seen makes me believe they are responsible corporate citizens.

In every interaction I have had with south32 they have attempted to minimise the impacts of their operations.

Misleading people about the impacts of their mine is part of the south 32 business model.

This mine covers local residents’ homes with coal dust and infiltrates our lungs.

The noise from the mine is excessive and unrelenting. There is a history of noise non-compliance at nearby properties. Nothing has been done to mitigate noise at the source or decrease the transmission of noise to local family homes. South 32 does not care about its impact on surrounding homes or the people that live in them. If this project is approved there should be a requirement for noise barriers and much reduced maximum noise limits than those in the current consent.

The traffic increase predicted with this proposal is excessive and unreasonable. South 32 has the ability to and should be made to bus employees to the site if approved. Heavy vehicle numbers should be reduced. Speed limits are currently routinely ignored by south 32 staff and contractors. The risk to the school children walking to school and at the school crossing is real. Many community members feel it is only a matter of time before there is an incident resulting from excessive traffic and heavy vehicles on the small local roads.

The plan to build a new carpark in the Illawarra escarpment is ridiculous. It is completely unnecessary. South 32 maintains 2 sites 10 minutes’ drive away in industrial areas that are suited to bus staff from. The proposed carpark will destroy habitat, be an eyesore, create hard surface run off into local waterways and facilitate unnecessary extra traffic on the single lane road in and out of Mount Kembla.

The impacts on drinking water is also unacceptable. Offsets cannot replace an unknown quantity of water in perpetuity.

The impacts to aboriginal cultural herniate are completely unacceptable.

The emissions resulting from the proposal are unacceptable and will contribute significantly to climate change.

Please reject this nonsensical proposal.

I am an ordinary citizen, but I do know if Mining companies continue to destroy Mother Nature, we will continue to suffer out of control bushfires and floods, pandemics, environment, precious wildlife ( they are continually struggling to survive) and once destroyed we will have nothing left, we cannot replace everything lost, a healthy environment, a healthy economy, healthy humans and wildlife that play a huge role in a healthy environment. Hundreds of thousands of jobs now and into the future will be dependent on a healthy environment. Protecting Wildlife from mining creates jobs via tourism which contributes huge amounts to the economy.
The Dendrobium long wall mine extension in the Illawarra will contaminate drinking water, people getting sick by poisoned water will place enormous pressure on the health system which is already struggling.
The experts who have studied all these impacts know it is insane to allow this destructive mining to proceed. The time has come for mining companies to be banned from mining at all costs, their only motivation is greedy profits for today, not caring at all about the consequences.