United Wambo Open Cut Coal Mine

PDF File attached

Please deny this application. The natural environment and the ecosystem services it provides are too important.

The principles of ecologically sustainable development and inter generational equity prohibit the development of any further fossil fuel projects in the Hunter Valley.

I most assuredly object to this proposed project. It is outrageous that an irreplaceable Critically Endangered Ecological Community (CEEC) is to be cleared for coal extraction for private gain. This is so clearly not in the public interest.
Development consent most properly must be refused. The impact of the proposal on EPBC Act listed CEEC Central Hunter Valley Eucalypt Forest cannot be offset. The loss of the biodiversity values both site specific and of the landscape is just too costly. The Hunter Valley cannot bear it. It is irrefutable that this is the case. The historical extensive clearing of the vegetation of the valley floor has regional extinctions of threatened species already in train. Mine rehabilitation does not maintain connectivity in the short term nor provide the function in the medium or long term even. Re-establishment of the complexity of an ecosystem is still a nascent practice.
The offset obligations on the proponent can not be met. No more than 25% can be met by future mining rehabilitation yet this proposal provides for 56% of the offset obligation to be met in this manner with only 7% of the obligation being met by protection of existing woodland community. The impact of this proposal on CEEC Central Hunter Valley Eucalypt Forest just cannot be offset. This proposal must be refused.

Please see attached

Written submission is attached in pdf format

I object to the mine for a number of reasons that are outlined in the attached submission.

This ecological mis-management puts the country to shame. So much has already been lost for short term gain. Please do not go ahead with consent for this development

This mine is going to exacerbate the oversupply of coal in the export market, which has been a key driver of job losses. Further oversupply will drive further drops in the price of coal and this will lead to lay-offs and even mine closures, as it has in the last two years.


*Despite applying the new economic guidelines, the assessment of the mine fails to include the economic cost of worsening air quality from coarse particle pollution and lost water from the Hunter River and Wollombi Brook.


*It also fails to include the economic cost of the downstream greenhouse gas emissions from the coal mined at the site. The downstream emissions likely to be generated by this project are 259.3 million tonnes. Applying the per tonne carbon costs used in the economic assessment in Appendix 19, this would result in costs of a staggering $2.3-4.9 billion, dramatically reversing the proponent's claim that this mine will have a net economic benefit.

I object on the grounds of damage to habitat, biodiversity, water quality, noise pollution, global warming.

I strongly object to the Wando coal mine expansion. Putting a mega mine in the Hunter is the last thing it needs, What about the animals, it's vey hard to find an unspoiled area in the Hunter....where are they supposed to live. The massive water consumption and pollution is a huge issue. No combined water impact statement has ever been done in the Hunter. Water is our most precious resource and it needs to be monitored not given away nilly willy. The environmental damage will be horrific and who will clean up the mess when the coal mining industry is bankrupt. Bankers and financiers all around the world are saying coal is a bad investment. The governments own advisors have repeatedly advised that this project not go ahead. So why are they trying so hard to approve it. Please do not approve this disaster in the making. Thank you for your time. Nanna Jules.

It take millions of years for the delicate balance of biodiversity to evolve, where all living things have their home, their habitat, their security, ecosystems. Then we come along with our big heavy machines and destroy in a matter of days. Once its gone, you can't get it back. What we have left is a mere dwindling remnant of what once was. Death by a million cuts, consider the cumulative nature of all the destruction, from mining, development, urban sprawl.
Remember the commitment to the Paris agreement? A whole additional argument about the carbon dioxide. This coal needs to stay in the ground if you want your children and grandchildren to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef in all its sublime glory.
And also all of this:
This project proposes clearing 464ha of vegetation, close to half of which is Central Hunter Valley Eucalypt Forest, a critically endangered ecological community under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The impacts of this project on biodiversity will be unacceptable and it must be refused development consent. It will clear 223ha of a critically endangered ecological community, including moderate to good quality patches that are critical to the community's survival.

The proponent is offering a 'biodiversity offset' package that will protect just 7% of the required area of this community protection as existing woodland. In contrast 56% of the offset requirement is proposed to be met through future mine rehabilitation. This is a clear violation of the 25% limit on meeting offset obligations through mine rehab promises, and is a clear indication that impacts on this community cannot be offset and the mine should be refused consent.

38 nearby residences are predicted to be impacted by increased noise pollution from this project. This area of the Hunter has been severely depopulated because of large scale mining, and further loss of farmers and private residents will cause ongoing destruction of regional social fabric. Increased dust emissions will also exacerbate health problems in the region.
Threatened species such as the Spotted-tailed Quoll will lose important habitat if this project proceeds. These species are already in severe trouble and any further loss of habitat will drive them towards extinction.
This mine and the three surrounding it will cause more than two metres draw down in the productive alluvial aquifers of the Hunter River and Wollombi Brook. The cumulative loss of water and productivity in these water sources and the wholesale destruction of surface water catchments for their tributaries is already too great.

This project has been developed at the expense of the owners of the United mine fulfilling obligations to close and remediate a mine that has been inoperational for six years and which was supposed to cease mining altogether four years ago.

It's going to leave behind two final voids, and delay rehabilitation at both the United and Wambo mine sites. Final voids are an unacceptable impact of mining that damage waterways for hundreds of years into the future, and are not wanted by the NSW community.

This is the first mine to be assessed under new economic assessment guidelines, but the economics of it don't stack up.

There's increased unemployment in the local area for this project since early 2014. Over the same period at least half a dozen damaging mine expansion projects were approved by the State Government on the basis that doing so would be good for employment in the region. New mine approvals are not securing jobs in the Hunter, and we need another strategy.

This mine is going to exacerbate the oversupply of coal in the export market, which has been a key driver of job losses. Further oversupply will drive further drops in the price of coal and this will lead to lay-offs and even mine closures, as it has in the last two years.

Despite applying the new economic guidelines, the assessment of the mine fails to include the economic cost of worsening air quality from coarse particle pollution and lost water from the Hunter River and Wollombi Brook.

It also fails to include the economic cost of the downstream greenhouse gas emissions from the coal mined at the site. The downstream emissions likely to be generated by this project are 259.3 million tonnes. Applying the per tonne carbon costs used in the economic assessment in Appendix 19, this would result in costs of a staggering $2.3-4.9 billion, dramatically reversing the proponent's claim that this mine will have a net economic benefit.

The Hunter Valley can't afford to lose any more of its critically endangered remnant woodland. It can't afford any worsening air quality or any more draw down of its rivers and alluvial aquifers. It can't afford to worsen the oversupply of coal that is costing jobs. It cannot afford this mine, and the project should not be approved.

I object to another open cut coal mine in the Hunter Valley. I live near three open cut mines and find the noise, dust and lights to be unacceptable for a rural area without adding another open cut operation into the area.

An additional open cut mine will add to the cumulative impacts of coal mining in this area and cannot be approved. This type of mine will add to the air pollution already being experienced.

The current application will finish with two large voids and this is unacceptable. The Hunter Valley must not accept even more voids which are a blight on the landscape. Any void created by mining must be backfilled and rehabilitated

The proposal to create offsets on rehabilitated overburden is totally unacceptable. The ecology in this area cannot be further destroyed by open cut mining.

John Krey

I object to this open cut coal mine application.

This area in the Hunter Valley has too many open cut mines already and the cumulative impact by adding another to the existing three mines in our area is unacceptable.

Our air is already polluted and cannot tolerate another dust producing open cut mine.

The damage to the ecology cannot be repaired and must not be allowed to happen.

The unfilled voids left at the end of mining are not acceptable to residents who live in the Hunter Valley. All mining voids must be filled on completion.

The coal produced by the application is surplus to world demand and if burnt will only add to Global warming. This coal must stay in the ground.

Peabody Energy given the dire state of its financial position is not a fit and proper entity to be given an licence to destroy our area with the hope the Company will survive long enough to carry out its rehabilitation responsibilities

I object and do not support this mine.

We must accept that coal mining is a threat to the planet. Global Warming has reached critical levels and the time for a moratorium has been reached. Moreover the open cuts in the Hunter Valley Have destroyed valuable farming land, are a threat to water resources and air quality. This project proposes clearing 464ha of vegetation, close to half of which is Central Hunter Valley Eucalypt Forest, a critically endangered ecological community under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The impacts of this project on biodiversity will be unacceptable and it must be refused development consent. It will clear 223ha of a critically endangered ecological community, including moderate to good quality patches that are critical to the community's survival.

Climate Action Newcastle (CAN) is a group of citizens who are concerned about the seriousness of climate change, and supportive of initiatives that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of clean energy. Due to the unacceptably high downstream emissions from the United Wambo Open Cut Coal Mine Project, we strongly object to this new mine proposal.

To keep warming within predicted safe limits (if such a thing is still possible), we know all countries, Governments, individuals and companies must make every effort to stop the burning of fossil fuels. Opening new coal mines and exporting more coal is completely inconsistent with attempts to stay under 2 degrees warming per the Paris Agreement.

All Coal must be left in the ground at the soonest time, and we need to see a new direction for NSW powered by clean energy. Communities are being consistently failed by planning departments and Governments that continue to steer us down the dead end of coal reliance, instead of responsible action toward restructuring industry and the workforce into enterprises powered by renewable energy. We need a managed transition, not a head-in-the-sand denial that we can keep mining and burning coal into the future, nor the delusion that the coal industry is still economically viable.

We understand that the downstream emissions to be generated by this project are estimated to be 259.3 million tonnes. Applying the per tonne carbon costs used in the economic assessment in Appendix 19, this would result in costs of a staggering $2.3-4.9 billion, dramatically reversing the proponent's claim that this mine will have a net economic benefit. It is clear that this mine should not only not proceed on economic as well as environmental grounds.

Mining and burning coal is unsafe for local communities, and the Earth. Please reject this proposal and leave this coal in the ground.

See attached

I would like to lodge my support for the United Wambo Open Cut Coal Mine Project, SSID 7142.

The United Wambo Project is situated in area where coal mining contributes directly to the wealth and vitality of the local and State communities. The project is an extension to the existing operations at the Wambo mine which has been in operation since 1991. During this time the operation has contributed a great deal to the local community.

The proponent of the project currently employs about 250 people at the existing open cut operation. This proposal will ensure ongoing employment for the open cut employees plus an additional 250 people at peak production.

This proposal involves the production of up to 10 Mtpa of coal from a difficult mining area that has previously been regarded as uneconomic but with the Peabody Glencore joint venture the mine can proceed as a viable operation. It will also create much needed jobs in NSW and in the Hunter Valley in particular. The mine will use existing infrastructure to process and send the coal to the port.

The export income generated by the project will assist in the state of NSW and the national interest by contributing positively to employment and Australia's balance of trade.

The proponent has adequately addressed the needs of the community through the environmental assessment and the project deserves the support of the NSW government to keep NSW as the premier state. I am currently unemployed as a direct result of the Drayton South refusal by the PAC and without more work I will have to re-locate to a state that is open for business.


Yours sincerely,

Christopher Andrew Smith

36 Dangar Road Singleton

NSW

2330

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See attached.