Dendrobium Mine Extension Project

SUBMISSION DENDROBIUM MINE EXTENSION 13 JUNE 2022

I object to the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project for similar reasons to those expressed in my objection to the earlier proposal to extend the mine. The mine extension project now proposed is smaller but in the interim more reasons have emerged for it to be rejected, for example:
1. The current assessment process for this mining extension rejected by the IPC does not include any independent assessment. I regard this to be a process failure by the government in view of the powerful evidence of scientists that informed the IPC’s rejection of the project. The current proposal’s smaller size does not substantially change the risks to water, environment and biodiversity that lead to the project’s rejection by the IPC.
It is not too late for an independent assessment and for the evidence of scientists to be heard on this expansion of longwall mining under our drinking water catchment. I believe the revelations about the DPIE assisting the proponent in making their case makes independent assessment a requirement now that the government has intervened to bring the project back. (reported by ABC Illawarra 10 June 2022)

2. There is now even more evidence that the proponent’s argument that the coking coal is needed for local steel making is not true. More local mines have been approved which could sustain steelmaking and workers’ jobs until alternatives to making steel with coal are available to Bluescope. There are many good reasons for Bluescope to keep on pursuing clean energy alternatives including biochar and renewable hydrogen. In doing so they have community support to make a transition as soon as possible in the interests of the environment and the climate.

3. This means that approving the extension of coal extraction from a mine that is now and will in the future definitely cause great harm to water resources, swamps and biodiversity in the Special Area would be only for the economic benefit of the proponent. The unprecedented categorization of this coal mine as State Significant Infrastructure suggests that current and future citizens of NSW would benefit from the mine. I believe that nothing could be further from the truth because there are plenty of alternatives to mining this coal while there is no alternative to clean and sustainable water and the Special Area with its precious swamp lands and biodiversity.

4. Since my last submission the urgency of acting on climate change has become more apparent and the scientists including the IPCC have spelt out that to keep global emissions below 1.5 degrees countries cannot approve more coal and gas mines. This means us in NSW. No new coal.

This extension would mine coal with a higher gas concentration than the existing mine. It would add up to 15.5 million tonnes of C02 equivalent of direct greenhouse gas if it was allowed to proceed.
My other objections are :
- Mining under our water catchment should not be allowed. It would be irresponsible to cause more damage to the region’s most critical resource - clean and sustainable water resources.
- The fact that the proponent is not proposing to use bord and pillar methods to reduce subsidence and caving is a clear indicator of their lack of interest in preserving the Special Area and water resources. The damage the project would cause would be ongoing for many decades.
- This project would damage and desecrate Aboriginal cultural heritage with impunity
- The damage to the environment that would be caused by this mine would destroy aspects of the ecosystem and impact on the koala population. Surely the government’s commitment to save this endangered species from extinction in NSW means that destruction of koala habitat must be stopped rather than extended by Ministerial decision.
- The promise of an additional 50 jobs at Dendrobium and the mine’s contribution to jobs in local steelmaking does not take account of the need to transition to sustainable industries with ongoing jobs – this transition is what needs government support, not the environmental destruction by an industry with a limited future.
- The greenhouse gas emissions that would result from this project would be significant and potentially become one of the highest emitters of all coal mines in NSW.

In closing:
I’m writing this on the Queen’s Birthday and I just saw a quote from one of the people recognized on the honours list, Anne Kennedy AM, a Coonamble water protection advocate. She said:
I’m old. There’s enough food and water for me, but I’ve got 13 grandchildren. I’m thinking of tens of generations of future Australians who will say: “Why did you let them destroy this water?”
I commend this call for intergenerational equity to you as the assessors of this project. Please reject it for all of us.

As a born Wollongongian and a resident of Wollongong for 24 years, I object to this project on the basis that it is a violation of climate, environmental, intergenerational, social and First Nations justice. The risks of this project are known and wide reaching, to allow such a project to proceed knowing the risks to vital water supplies, critical species and ecosystems, and the climate, is not only grossly negligent but actively harmful. Further details of my objection are attached below in letter form.
Sincerely
Isabella Todd
Wollongong Resident

See submission in attachment

The Dendrobium Extension project is a critical project to the economical prosperity of the Illawarra Region. The project will allow Illawarra Metallurgical Coal to continue in supporting the local steel industry and small businesses in the area.

Illawarra has a history of the supply of Metallurgical Coal to the international market and is a valuable contributor of employment to the Illawarra and Sydney regions.

For the good of the NSW economy, suppliers in the region and local residents, I would like to see the Dendrobium Extension Project approved to allow Illawarra Metallurgical Coal to continue to support the region for the next several decades.

Please find attached submission objecting to the project.

Please refer to the attachment.

We have worked with Illawarra Metallurgical Coal for many years and have always found them to be a an ethical and responsible business. From our dealings with them we can see that their employees have a significant awareness of their duty to the surrounding communities and environment and understand the importance of minimising their impact wherever possible.

We welcome the extension of the life of the mine and the benefits it will bring to our business and the wider community, supporting families and jobs and bringing prosperity to our area in a manner that benefits not only our generation but also the subsequent generations.

The risk to Sydney and Wollongong's drinking water is substantial. And it is unclear that coal extracted from the mine is necessary for business functioning and job security at Port Kembla's Bluescope steelworks. In my opinion, the environmental risks outweigh any social/economic benefits.

Please find attached a letter outlining Wingecarribee Shire Council's adopted position opposing longwall mining and new coal mining in the Shire.

Please see our attached letter of support

Please find submission and attachment below.

I support the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project. The EIS is based on a revised mine plan which sees a reduction in the mining area of about 60 per cent, and considers key concerns raised from the Independent Planning Commission and the community. South32 have considered this feedback as part of the submission.

Our Coal Mines have been operating in the region for nearly 90 years. We produce some of the highest metallurgical coal in the world and are the largest coal producer in the Southern Coalfield, making a significant contribution to the Southern Coalfield economic ecosystem. Our product is world class and our people are among the most experienced in the industry.

Supporting the project

Submission forms that support the project

I have great dignity and pride in having the ability to work in an industry that can provide for my family, community and country. We should never look beyond this.

Growing up in Mt Kembla the mine contributed to a number of projects supporting community. I also work at Dendrobium Mine and would like a secure future

Support local economy and employment

We need to support the Illawarra with jobs.

Coal mining history in Illawarra to continue, jobs, local steel making

I strongly object to the expansion of the the proposed mining is in the protected Special Areas of the water catchment upon which 5 million people rely for drinking water. There should be no mining in the Special Areas of Greater Sydney Water Catchment; this is the stated position of WaterNSW and the legislated purpose of Special Area protection.

Mining induced subsidence will damage the watercourses and swamps that feed our drinking water reservoirs. Despite the reduction in the overall size of the project, longwalls themselves proposed for Area 5 are still 305m wide.

South 32 predicts that 305 metre wide longwall panels may result in subsidence of 2m to 2.45m. Previous mines of similar width have caused 2.5m to 3 m of subsidence, so South 32’s prediction may be conservative

The expansion is not consistent with current land use of the area as a water catchment

The impact of this mine expansion will not be neutral or positive, it will leave the water catchment worse off in terms of both quantity and quality of water. Offsets in the form of the payment of money cannot replace a drinking water catchment. No matter how much water is recycled, or how many desalination plants we build before the next drought, our drinking water catchment is essential infrastructure, and should be prioritised over a privately-owned coal mine.

The cracking and dewatering of watercourses, swamps and aquifers is expected to add the loss of many more millions of litres of water each day to the 10 million litres daily water loss from Dendrobium’s current and past mining. WaterNSW has been clear that mining in the Special Areas causes loss of yield to the reservoirs and the swamps and water courses that charge them.

This mine expansion impacts on the ability of the water catchment to collect, clean, and store water and negatively impacts on the sustainability and resilience of the supply of drinking water for Sydney and Wollongong, in terms of both water quality and quantity. Water that enters and then flows out of mines picks up contaminants along the way. Current measures for managing this problem have been shown to be insufficient to prevent impacts on waterways.

The risk of pollution events in the catchment is real, and is not adequately addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement.

Should this proposal be approved, the mine will still come within 1000m of the Avon Reservoir. It will result in water losses from Avon, which is the only source of water supply to over 310,000 residents and businesses in the Illawarra region. In dry years, the watercourses in the mined area that flow into Avon Reservoir are expected to totally dry up.

The southern catchment is vital to the sustainability and resilience of the supply of drinking water to Sydney and Wollongong. It supplies up to 30% of Greater Sydney’s water in normal times, and in times when Warragamba is compromised by water quality (for example the 1998 cryptosporidium and giardia water crisis, or the 2019/20 black summer bushfires which burned the Warragamba catchment) they may supply even more.

DPIE’s report on South 32’s previous unsuccessful application to expand Dendrobium Mine noted that it will take 100 years for groundwater levels to stabilise in Area 5. Thus the drawdown/dewatering impacts of the mining will remain long after we are gone. This is a problem that we will hand down to future generations, descendants that will be more challenged by climate change, subject to more extreme weather events, longer and more severe droughts and more serious bushfire risk.

The discharge water from the mining will also need to be managed and treated, perhaps in perpetuity, and this is another burden that we leave for future generations. South 32 acknowledges that the mine will continue to discharge water long after that mine has closed. Their own estimate is that the mine will discharge 13 to 15 litres PER SECOND, for the foreseeable future, and certainly long after the mine has closed.

South 32 have said that the size and location of longwalls in Area 5 is necessary for the economic viability of the mine. They provide no evidence or explanation as to why the profits of a private company should be prioritised over the drinking water supply of people living in Sydney and Wollongong.

There are other, long term environmental and sustainability issues, however my primary concern is the impact to our water supply in the catchment area as stated above.