Wilpinjong Coal Mine Extension

As a resident of New South Wales I make this submission to stand with the village of Wollar to object to the extension of the Wilpinjong Mine. Not only will the extension have serious adverse effects on the livelihoods of the residents of Wollar through noise, air and water pollution, 354 hectares of native vegetation will be removed, impacting on the 24 threatened species such as the Regent Honeyeater.

Further to the immediate local impacts of the mine, there is also the issue of the impacts of the resource being extracted. The coal from the mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Agreement to keep global warming under 2 degrees.

Finally, the economic importance of the mine is overstated. The number of jobs the extension with create has been exaggerated, compared to the current workforce extracting the same volume of coal. Peabody Energy who runs the project is in serious financial trouble, facing millions of dollars of clean fines in the US for its coal mines there. Finally, its contract to supply coal to AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval, and does not justify the expansion.

There is no economic justification for the irreversible environmental and social damage that will be done by granting approval for the extension of the Wilpinjong Mine.

Too little native vegetation has been preserved in this State and particularly in this area of the State in the past and it is criminal that a remaining remnant of native vegetation is now threatened by this mine expansion. Threatened species and ecological communities within this area cannot be saved by proposed offsets which would be insufficiently effective. It's time NSW respected what's left of our natural heritage, especially when totally unnecessary, unviable and in the long term uneconomic, expansion of coal mining is considered. Protect this region for our future - it has greater value as a natural resource for the wider population in years to come than any short-term profits for a mining company. I oblect most strongly to this proposal.

The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
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 totally inadequate.
Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
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 mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
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.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

*The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
*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 totally inadequate.
* Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
*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 mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
*The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
*The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
*The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
*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.
*The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
*The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
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 totally inadequate.
Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
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 mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
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.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

NSW Department of Planning

Dear sir or madam
I object tot he the proposed extension of the Wilpinjong mine ( SSD 6764)

My reasons are set out as follows:
The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable. This is has been proposed for Bulga and now another mining company is seeking to destroy a new community for overseas profits. this at a time when coal prices are continuing to drop
.
Further, 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 totally inadequate.


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.. This species is also threatened by oyther coal mining operations in NSW.


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

The mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.

The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.

The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.

The economics of the project are flawed. Peabody Energy is in deep financial distress and may not be fit to meet all its obligations.

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

Yours sincerely
Madi Maclean

The extension of Wilpinjong Mine will make the village of Wollar unlivable.
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 totally inadequate.
Air quality has not been assessed against the new standards adopted in December 2015.
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 mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.
The area has significant Aboriginal cultural heritage values that have not been assessed in a regional context.
The extension removes existing buffer zones for the Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve.
The extension will leave three final voids that will permanently scar the landscape and harm waterways for hundreds of years.
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.
The contract to supply AGL's Bayswater Power Station can be met by the current approval.
The proposal to continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

There is already far too much coal being mined in Australia. It is absolutely unnecessary to mine further deposits to to extend any existing mine.
It is time that government recognised the deleterious effects of coal burning, of the environmental destruction of coal mining and its transportation. In this particular case the government should also show its concern for the NSW residents who live in the vicinity of the coal mine.
It is time government stopped putting the profits of (and the subsidies for) the coal mining corporations instead of putting environmental and social costs ahead of them.

I urge the Government to reconsider allowing this coal mine development. The impact on the area especially the regional impact on the town of Wollar and surrounds at least needs greater review. In such a review the effects of vegetation removal on local species and the Aboriginal cultural effects deserve more consideration and consultation with appropriate groups.
Surely we can use our expertise to use more green energy and sustainable energy resources that avoid the development of new coal mines.

The strongest argument against this project is climate change. Tim Flannery, in an address at Sydney Opera House on Mar 8, 2016, said that global temperature increases are tracking at the highest predicted rate. We need a Government to take leadership on preserving our environment. No new coal mines, no expansion of existing mines.

I have been a member of the board of the EPA for four years, so have been well aware of the difficulties with compliance and regulation in Coal mines, and I have huge concern about environmental damage Coal Mines are doing. I have visited many coal mining areas in the Hunter Valley and I've been to Mudgee and seen the operations in this area.

I'm appalled that the extension of this mine should even be getting considered ... so that yet another village will be wiped off the map.

I totally oppose this proposal.

I notice that the risk ranking assessment in Appendix P is very optimistic about damage than coal mines cause . I think that nearly all the categories require serious review against the experience of communities elsewhere who have found themselves next to coal mine mines.

I oppose this development because
1 The people of Wollar have already been seriously affected by this mine. They are impacted by dust, noise and visual pollution. They have lost much of their community. This expansion will finish another of our small regional communities.
2 Climate change is a serious threat to human civilisation. The world's climate scientists are in almost unanimous agreement on this. The people of Fiji and Vanuatu will tell you that it is already having serious impacts. This project will result in more CO2 being released into the atmosphere. When we know the consequence it would be morally reprehensible to proceed with this project.

DAMS HEG objects to the extension of the Wilpinjong Mine in solidarity with the remnant humans and on behalf of wildlife populations.

The parameters that define a healthy environment- noise, dust, water abundance and quality are all violated by this mining expansion and to ignore its contribution to climate change is a crime against life on Earth.

The expansion removes the buffer zone to Munghorn Gap Nature reserve, an area of impressively high bird species diversity and 354 Ha of remnant vegetation.

While leaving a final void has somehow become the norm, we do not accept that not costing in remediation of a final voids is good enough. The 3 voids belong to an era we should have left a hundred years ago.

We would like to see Peabody work towards transitioning from coal and redressing the mistakes of the past not burrowing ever deeper into the morass.

I strongly object to the coal company's expansion in the Hunter Valley. NOT NEEDED! There are safer, cleaner and more viable energy systems. Leave the Hunter Valley alone. They've been molested enough.

This project STEALS from the land that we all own, live and rely on.

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 mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. This is at odds with Australia's commitments under the Paris Accord.

the morons like you people need a massive head hitting to stop you. do you morons think that raping more and more of the earth is going to do any good in the short or the long term whatsoever? and is destroying even one part for a families short term comfort in one lifetime at the expense of the quality of life for all worth any effort in to comparison? no? are you sure about that?

If this proposal goes ahead Australia will be at odds with its commitment under the Paris Accord. The extension of the mine will produce an additional 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year, exacerbating the impacts of climate change. To continue extracting low quality coal while causing irreversible environmental and social damage cannot be justified.

In addition the cumulative impacts on biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, water sources, greenhouse gas emissions, community and rural industry have not been rigorously assessed (eg the job numbers appear inflated, it is not clear if Peabody Energy will be able to meet all its obligations and this risk should not be taken as the tax payer may have to foot the bill in the end).

It is simply inconceivable how in this day and age an extension of a coal mine is still being considered while there are viable renewable energy sources available. It is jeopardizing our survival.

My personal view on this matter is simply- leave that stuff in the ground. It is economically unnecessary since the price of coal no longer warrants it. In addition, the amount of subsidies this industry attracts from Government is obscene- diesel, electricity, rail transport- make these enterprises an unnecessary burden on the general community. In the longer term- rehabilitation of these sites leaves a lot to be desired. There are a lot of examples around the country to verify this.

Why are local communities suffering or even being wiped out in the pursuit of king coal? The king is dead! Keep small regional communities viable through maintaining & improving healthy environments with remaining native vegetation intact and fostering new long term decentralised alternative energy sources.

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

I object to the expansion of the mine, which will come within 1.5 kilometres of the historic village of Wollar.

The dust and noise for local residents will be intolerable. A further problem is the harm to our climate and pollution of our environment from burning coal