Wilpinjong Coal Mine Extension

I oppose the extension of Wilpinjong Mine because of the devastating impact it will have on the 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities.

We are currently living with one of the longest, warmest summers on record now which is certain to exacerbate while we continue to rely on fossil fuels. Coal mining should be phased out because the costs of mitigation in the years to come with far outweigh any short term benefits. The enormous costs of recovering from increasing extreme weather events will be catastrophic.

This reality is recognised in the current record low prices for fossil fuels. Peabody, the company responsible for this mining operation has been identified by the markets as being on the verge of collapse with its assets a small proportion of its debts. Any damage done by the current mine and the proposed expansion will not be remediated.

Now more than ever we need to protect our heritage and biodiversity for future generations and not destroy it by authorising this teetering, foreign owned company to continue this destructive, uneconomic and unsustainable practise.

The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will destroy the community of Wollar. The cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has not been considered.
The noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are highly inadequate.
Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015
The cumulative impact on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry has not been rigorously assessed.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.
The ongoing coal extraction will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gas per year, which will exacerbate the impacts of climate change, and is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant landscape Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The extension will remove 354 ha of remnant native vegetation impacting 24 threatened species and communities - more than the current approval. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
The extension will leave 3 final voids in the landscape that will impact the local environment and waterways for hundreds of years into the future. This is a completely unacceptable legacy.
The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.
The predicted job numbers are overstated compared with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.
Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all obligations.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.

The Wilpinjong mine must not be extended. Coal mining is not longer financially viable, and the mining company is proceeding with the approval process simy to make it look better.

We cannot continue to mine fossil fuels. Even though Australia has large coal deposits, mining this material is directly responsible for downgrading the health of citizens nearby and the surrounding environment. That damage doesn't even begin to say what harm coal mining does to the planet! After a mine is exhausted regeneration of the land is rarely successful, especially as our unique native wildlife and fauna cannot be replaced once they are lost. There have been many incidences overseas where the local water supply has been adversely affected by coal mining and it would be tragic to see that happen in Australia.

With such a glut in coal, and Australia committed to keeping global warming below at least 2 degrees centigrade, it is incumbent on the government to stop approving new mines.

With the downturn in mining revenue the country cannot afford to destroy other industries, such as farming should definitely not be sacrificed.

once the farming community is destroyed by the mining it will never come back.

i object to this proposal on the following grounds:
1. From recent news reports, Peabody Coal is not as financially viable as previously, thus making it difficult for future remediation works.
2. The proposed works will bring coal mining perilously close to the village of Wilpinjong, causing further air pollution to its population.
3. The threat of water contamination cannot be dismissed.
4. It is time for the State Government to end its approval for further coal mining in NSW due to the low world price for coal and the huge pollution it causes.
5. Climate change is no longer a possibility, it is happening, and the gradual cessation of coal mining in NSW should be a priority for this Government not the continuous expansions being approved.
6. A once beautiful region of NSW is being decimated by coal mining, including farm land. A flyover should be mandatory for your panel before final approval is surely given.

I oppose the extension because it will affect farmland. We need all the farmland to remain untouched by mining in order to provide food for all Australians.

You cannot eat coal or money. What will be left? An Australia dependent on food imports.

Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission.

I have witnessed the devastating effects of the mining industry on the people of Gloucester. To impose such devastation on yet other communities would be insane.

Thankfully the Gloucester community is healing now.

Sincerely,

Alison

To Whom it May Concern,
I wish to lodge my objection to the Wilpnjong Extension Project for several reasons.
The first reason is the impact it will have on the local community. There are potential negative impacts in both social and health related areas.
Secondly, even the address of the mine - Ulan Road and Ulan-Wollar Road, Western Coalfield 40 km north-east of Mudgee between the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve and the Goulburn River National Park - suggests that the mine would be located along side environmentally sensitive areas. It is possible that the impacts of the mine would be detrimental to the surrounding environment for many years/generations to come.
Finally - are the immediate benefits of the mine worth the price future generations will have to pay for them? Are the mechanisms we use to measure these outcomes adequate?

Thank you for consideration in this matter.

Kind regards,
Eva Rizana

It is sickening to see how members of a Government elected to represent all its people and to act for both the present and the future persists in facilitating the unfixable destruction of land, water, and all the creatures dependent on land and water.
How many towns and farms must be destroyed? At what cost to human health and to what once was regarded as the common wealth, i.e. that is the wellbeing of all citizens? For whose benefit?
It is remarkable to note how the deadline for comment on this latest depredation coincides with proposals to curtail citizens' protests and to reduce fines to miners caught at the usual overstepping of conditions. These latest demonstrations of indifference to human and environmental need follow on from defunding the Environmental Defenders Office. So much for 'peaceful protest'.

wish to object to the extension of the mine towards an area of human habitation, in view of the health hazards involved, including airpollution, visual pollution and the threat to local water supply.
I am also concerned about the destruction of native habitat for various species, including the Regent Honeyeater
Given the unfavourable financial position of the Company concerned, I am doubtful about the likelihood that obligtions to prevent or remedy damage to the environment will be met
.
In summary, I do not consider that the .risk of environmental damage can be justified by the production of further quantities of this polluting material

The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - more than the current approval.

The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.

The cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry have not been rigorously assessed.

The ongoing impacts on groundwater and surface water systems will be greater than predicted.

The predicted job numbers are overstated compared, with the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal.

Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO MAKING GOOD THE MINE SITE, REGENERATING VEGETATION ETC - THEY WILL SIMPLY RUN IT VIA A SUBSIDIARY AND LET IT GO BANKRUPPT, THE TAXPAYERS WILL THEN FOOT THE BILL AS USUAL.

The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context. And the cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has not been considered.

There are many additional reasons to oppose this proposal, but the most important is that to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified. Our children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences.

I oppose the proposed extension to Wilpinjong Mine on several grounds.

Economic: I am appalled that Australia subsidises the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $5.5 billion EVERY YEAR! And that was before this new $15.4mil over 4 years for a "fossil fuel growth centre". I do NOT condone this waste of my taxes on an industry that is now recognised by the global financial markets to be in terminal decline. If we want to be a prosperous nation, and avoid wasting our money, we need to immediately stop all support for fossil fuels, and immediately put that money into solar and other renewables. And now that Australia has signed on to the Paris climate change agreement, any support of fossils is taking us in the wrong direction. Which brings me to point 2.

Ecological: To have any hope of meeting our Paris commitments, we must stop all fossil fuel extraction. We can easily do this. A square of land 40km by 40km covered in solar panels would meet all Australia's energy needs, including transport. And now that electric cars, buses, trains, boats, and planes exist, we could create a booming economy by using those fossil subsidies to leap into renewables. But Earth's climate is not the only environmental value threatened by this mine extension. The extension will remove 354 hectares of remnant native vegetation and have an impact on 24 threatened species and ecological communities - even more than have already been damaged by the current mine. The biodiversity offsets will not provide sufficient habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. Also, the extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve. As if all of that were not bad enough, on top of the harm it will cause to the environment, it will harm the local community.

Impact on the community: The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar un-livable. The cumulative social impact of loss of population through mining projects from Ulan to Bylong has already damaged the area and has not been considered in this assessment. And these social threats are not all. There are also health threats that have not been adequately considered. The noise assessment, monitoring and mitigation measures are totally inadequate. Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.

In addition to all of the above, there is a significant financial risk to the State and Commonwealth governments and, through them, to we taxpayers. Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations. If it follows the path of recent coal miners, it will only lose money on this new mine, sell it for $1, making a huge loss, then walk away and leave Governments to remediate the filthy coal scar on the landscape.

For all of the above reasons (all of which the public knows to be facts) I oppose this mine extension proposal.

Sincerely

No more coal mine expansions! I am totally against the expansion of Wilpinjong coal mine.

Australia signed up to the COP21 climate change treaty, and it is time that governments around Australia started to do something about lessening the impact of climate change by not approving any more coal mines or coal mine expansions.

This particular mine is operated by a foreign company - Peabody - and all the profits go overseas. This does not benefit Australia.

The village of Wollar is very close to the proposed open cut pit no 8, and the operations are expected to continue day and night, seven days a week for the next 7 years. By then, Wollar will be uninhabitable, the people will all be sick, and maybe they won't be able to leave because no one will buy their homes. This is unacceptable in modern day Australia.

The mine is near National Parks - all the coal dust will settle there, making it unpleasant to visit, and killing native vegetation with a layer of dust.

Mines use a huge amount of water, something like 5 tonnes to produce 1 tonne of coal. I ask you, in the driest continent, is this a good idea? And where will the contaminated water go?

We will be left with no coal, no assets, no jobs, a trashed environment, and a huge hole in the ground, not to mention more global warming as a result of burning all the coal.

This has got to stop, starting with the refusal of this mine extension.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

I do not believe the EIS sufficiently accounts for accumulative impacts to climate change through the release of greenhouse gasses when the coal is used. Please provide detailed modelling of the greenhouse gasses produced by the coal that will be released into the environment together with the world wide production of greenhouse gasses. Provide mitigation strategies to remove this gas from the atmosphere or the provision to plant sufficient trees to capture the equivalent quantity of carbon from the atmosphere.

As an environmental science student I am disgusted with this country's continued use of coal in the face of climate change.
We should be world leaders in renewable but are a disgusting disgrace internationally instead.
Here is another example.
Please think first.
Thankyou

My family and I have enjoyed being employed by Wilpinjong for the last 10 years and hope to extend this into the future.

We are heading for a global warming catastrophe. Anyone with a scientific background realises this. No one has disputed the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide and other gases since Tyndall demonstrated it in 1859.

Anyone with any sense would do something to avoid this.

The economy depends on the environment and is not to be regarded as separate from it.

Mining coal is a step in the wrong direction and a criminal act against our children and grandchildren.