MOD 3 - Pit 8 Extension

I stand behind the Wilpinjong mine extension & the benifits to our local community
I have been employed at wilpinjong since 2009 & understand & are grateful for the opportunity & support that the site has given me & my family

I am a local patron who works in the community. I support the local project and its development.

I strongly support the proposed extension of Wilipinjong Mine. It supports the local economy by providing employment and business to local suppliers.
It also supports the local community with their projects.

I support the proposed mine extension.

We need a payrise for this

I have lived in Mudgee for my entire life and over the years have seen extensive growth of Mudgee and sporting complex’s, children’s playgrounds and schooling enhancements come from the support of this mine. It helps keep our investments in town stable and secure. Personally without this mine and its extension I would not continue to live here and neither would many others.

Approve! Benefits the town, community, keeps the lights on

I strongly support the proposed modification for wilpinjong mine.

Wilpinjong coal mine has has provided myself a career in mining and income to support my family.

Protects the town, provides for the town.

No mine equals no Mudgee

I strongly support this project

We mine our minerals responsibly. Why should we deny hundreds of people employment because coal is not 'trendy'.

This is a sensible & logical development application on every level. Economic and energy security benefits with modest environmental impacts. It makes sense and should be supported.

I strongly support this extension as I am a current employee and have been working here for approximately 15 years.
This mine has supported me and my family during this time, I was born locally to the area and have seen the great positive impact this mine has had to the local community. I believe this extension will support future generations and the community.

This project supports my family financially as a lot of other families.
They also support the community.
From my experience in mining Wilpinjong are one of the best mines at rehabilitation of land back to the way it was found.

I’d like to see this extension go ahead so I can continue to live and support my large family of 7 in the mudgee area. I have kids that require special needs and a wife that is unable to work and a full time care giver to my kids. The constant specialist and medical bills will be harder to achieve long term. If this extension keeps me employed I will be able to provide for my family in the Mudgee area and able to give back to the community that I’ve grown to love. Without it I fear I will be forced to move on…

Provides more employment and support for the local communities

Wilpinjong supports the community and is a large employer for our local area.

1. Aboriginal cultural heritage impacts
Wilpinjong Mine area is significant for Aboriginal cultural heritage with over 1,000 sites recorded
over many years. There is ample evidence of continuous Wiradjuri occupation of the region with
spiritual connection to country. Mod 3 will cause the destruction of an additional 15 sites.
2. Social impacts
The proposed new area will take open cut mining operations to the boundary of Wollar Village.
Pollution from current mining has caused significant health and well-being impacts on the
Wollar community forcing many people to sell up to Peabody Energy and leave the district. The
depopulation directly attributed to mining has not been addressed. The Social Impact
Management Plan for the current approval identifies that mining and workforce would start
ramping down this year 2025. Remaining community members are preparing to rebuild and
reinvigorate the community. This proposed new expansion adds to future uncertainty and stress
levels further threatening mental health and wellbeing. The Social Impact Assessment
identified seven positive social outcomes if the proposal doesn’t go ahead and only two
negatives.
3. Biodiversity impacts
The proposed extension of mine disturbance will significantly impact two critically endangered
ecological communities (CEEC) and eleven endangered fauna species.
Endangered microbats: The new open cut area contains the highest density of the endangered
Large-eared Pied Bat and Eastern Cave Bat in the region. Two rocky hills will be removed, which
are at the centre of the hotspot. These are critical breeding habitats including known maternity
sites, resulting in a Significant and Irreversible Impact (SAII).
Box Gum Woodland CEEC: The assessment fails to adequately consider indirect impacts from
the proposal on the Box Gum Woodland CEEC and understates the extent of impact. This
community is identified as groundwater dependent. The potential impacts of the proposed
groundwater drawdown is not considered or assessed.
Regent Honeyeater: The proposed expansion will directly remove mapped areas of important
habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. There are current records of breeding
activity in the district that are not recognised in the assessment report.
Koala: Impacts on landscape connectivity. Expansion of open-cut mining forms an extensive
and hostile barrier between the locally significant conservation areas of Munghorn Gap Nature
Reserve and Goulburn River National Park. Will remove the closest points of intact remnant
vegetation on the valley floor currently forming stepping stones of habitat between these two
reserves for a wide variety of woodland birds including the Critically Endangered Regent
Honeyeater and mobile fauna like the Endangered Koala.
4. Water Impacts
Will cause a groundwater drawdown of over 20m and loss of groundwater (base)flows to Wollar
Creek of over 21 million litres per year. No monitoring has been done within the area of mine
expansion to establish a baseline or measure impacts from current mining operations in Pit 8.
2
Terrestrial Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) have not been adequately assessed
including those within the boundary of Wollar Village that provide significant ecological and
aesthetic values.
Wilpinjong Mine has a poor history of water management and modelling by intercepting more
water than predicted. Increased salinity loads of up to 3.5 tonnes salt per day in mine discharge
are a potential downstream water quality impact.
5. Not substantially the same project
The proposed extension should not be assessed as a modification because it is not
substantially the same as the current mine approval:
• Falls outside the current mining lease
• Is part of a larger expansion project
• Mines to Wollar Village boundary
• Encroaches on Wollar Creek catchment
• Destroys an endangered microbat hotspot
• Causes additional biodiversity impacts under Federal environmental law
• Destroys a new area of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance
6. Not Justified
The proposal has been assessed to contribute $21 million of net public benefit. This would not
cover the costs of current climate change generated extreme weather events. The additional
greenhouse gas emissions will cause a greater public cost.
There is no need for extended coal mining in the region to provide local jobs. Mining is
competing for skilled labour urgently required in the construction, housing and renewable
energy industries. There is a major labour shortage in the Central West with local workers
needed for the CWO REZ construction.
The NSW Government has prioritised the Central West Future Jobs and Investment Authority to
manage the transition away from coal mining. The Mudgee region has many opportunities to
diversify the economy.
7. Explainer: for those who have viewed assessment reports: The exclusion of Cumbo
Creek realignment and Rocky Hill significant cultural heritage site is a red herring
This is a confusing and cynical exercise on the part of Peabody Energy attempting to offset the
impacts of the proposed mine expansion. Emphasis throughout the assessment reports
focusing on the exclusion of two areas from the existing mine approval creates a level of
confusion and distraction. There is no requirement to seek a modification to leave coal in the
ground. Cumbo Creek was never going to be diverted as too costly and Rocky Hill should never
have been approved for destruction. The belated protection of the significant Rocky Hill cultural
heritage site under the current approval for Pit 8 should not detract from the destruction of an
additional 15 sites within the proposed mine expansion.

I am a 66-year-old woman who has visited Mudgee over the past couple of years and enjoyed its nature reserves, nearby national parks, and wineries. During these visits, I have observed the impact of mining on the small village of Wollar and its surrounds. Once a thriving farming district, the village of Wollar and adjacent farm lands are now so dusty and noisy, with most houses allowed to become derelict since Peabody purchased them, that Peabody can rightly argue that any extension to mining activities would have little social impact because they have already made Wollar and the immediate district virtually unlivable. The argument from Peabody is that mining provides jobs – but for how long? What will happen to villages like Wollar and the town of Mudgee as countries around the world transition away from fossil fuels and pivot to renewable energy sources? Does the NSW Government have a plan to keep our rural and regional economies alive as this occurs? And what is the environmental cost of mining at the current scale, and what is proposed? The current mine already disturbs over 30km2 of farmland and threatens the high biodiversity values of land between Goulburn River National Park and Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve. Local tourism, which promotes national parks and winery visits, generates an estimated $199 million annually for the Mudgee region and should instead be protected from environmental savaging and be further supported.
As this Peabody mine application is a controlled action project under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which specifically aims to:
• provide for the protection of the environment, especially matters of national environmental significance
• conserve Australia's biodiversity
• protect biodiversity internationally by controlling the international movement of wildlife
• provide a streamlined environmental assessment and approvals process where matters of national environmental significance are involved
• protect our world and national heritage
• promote ecologically sustainable development.
My objections to the proposed Peabody extension in reference to the above EPBC aims are that the proposal would:
Release over 25 MT of additional Greenhouse Gas emissions, which is in contradiction to scientific advice that says to protect our land and water security on a planet threatened by human-induced climate change (which is a matter of national environmental significance because without food and water, we die), we must leave coal in the ground.
It is the first stage of a bigger mine expansion and should be assessed as a new project; as it stands, this application is not in line with the approvals process.
It extends the mine to the boundary of Wollar Village and makes the village uninhabitable for current and future residents.
It would disturb an additional 155 hectares of land, destroying more important habitat for the nationally threatened Large-eared Pied Bat, Eastern Cave Bat, Regent Honeyeater and Koala, and so endangers Australia’s biodiversity
It could permanently alter and degrade alluvial groundwater sources and surface flows in the Wollar Creek catchment and, therefore, is not an ecologically sustainable development.
It will slow the transition to a clean energy future, competing with the Central West Renewable Energy Zone that starts at Wollar.
Thank you for your attention.

I’ve been at the wilpinjong mine now for 15 years now, it’s been very supportive of my family and the local community for the last 2 decades. This will help the local community to grow if this gets approved.