The plan to lock in steel manufacturing with relining the coal furnace is irresponsible when it comes to pollution and clearly lacks foresight from management. The easy low risk approach they are taking comes at the expense of society and the environment. If Australia had a propoer price on carbon this reline would not be going ahead. The corporate responsibility Bluescope has needs to better factor in their emmisions. We know every tenth of a degree in warming if worth fighting for. We have seen the economic burden and devastation of floods and fire.
We all know there are clean steel manufacturing processes already in advanced stages which should be investigated with proper due diligence . In Europe there are nuch larger strel manufactures already signing clean steel offtake agreements with large users of their products, such as BMW. Other processes such as electric arc reduction is being developed by Boston Steel in the US . They ate backed by Bill Gates amongst other large investors who are well placed to bet on the future.
The project to ensure a robust strel industry for the Illawarra should be supported by government, but only if we get something in exchange for tax payers such as cleaner air and lower emissions.
Bluescope management is acting irresponsibly by finding reasons not to better plan for a clean stee future while they have this window of opportunity. We know blthe blast furnace has another decade of life it which is well within the time needed to build a clean steel processing plant. With massive half yearly profits, vast amounts of land, port access and strong local community support there are no excuses for them to ignore the opportunity to embrace the clean future of steel making here in the illawarra.
Please support Bluescope only if they act socially responsibly and take this opportunity to lower emissions and create clean jobs and products for the region.

I object to the reline of blast furnace 6 by BlueScope for several critical reasons:

1. It contradicts global and Australian efforts, such as the Paris Agreement to which the Commonwealth of Australia is a signatory, to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Continued and increasing emissions by Bluescope as a result of the blast furnace reline directly contribute to climate change which results in more intense catastrophic weather events such as the 2019 Summer Bushfires and 2022 East Australia Floods. The production and recycling of steel using hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity is already a proven and industrially-scaled process in Europe. Bluescope (with NSW government support) should be investing in this technology for a clean energy future rather than continuing to rely on out-dated and environmentally damaging blast furnace technology.

2. The continued use of a blast furnace at Port Kembla uses coking coal sourced locally from the southern coal fields, this damages the environment and water security in several ways. Mining of coking coal contributes to global climate change caused by the emissions associated with coal mining and coal production. In addition, the location of the coking coal mines within the Special Catchment Area of Sydney's fresh water supply directly damages the swamps and catchment areas which are critical to the production and storage of clean water for consumption in the Greater Sydney area. Underground mining of coking coal has unequivocally proven to damage the catchment area by the fracturing of overlying strata leading to water loss in excess of 25 ML/day or 9 billion litres a year. This also contributes to the pollution of the Sydney water supply due to the leaching of heavy metals from freshly fractured rocks caused by underground coal mining; this leads to increased levels of heavy metal contamination within the water supply. In addition, the fracturing of rock permanently damages the upland swamps in the catchment area because of their inability to retain water; this creates a bushfire hazard due to the drying out of the swamp regions as they are no longer able to retain water due to the fracturing of rock strata by underground coal mining. See the Open Letter to the Premier of NSW Regarding Coal Mining in the Schedule 1 Special Areas of the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment, and the Report of Mining in Sydney Catchment by the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer.

I support Australian steel production and would like to see Bluescope’s Port Kembla Steelworks become a leader in zero emissions steel. For this reason, I do not support this project.

• The climate crisis is escalating. We are fast approaching 1.5 degrees C of warming and climate scientists say that fossil fuels must stay in the ground if we are to avoid dangerous climate tipping points. The reline of Blast furnace 6 at this time would facilitate more burning of coal and the resultant greenhouse gas emissions at a time when we should be rapidly reducing emissions.
• I would like to see strong government support for zero carbon steel making technology, such as making steel from green hydrogen, to develop and commercialise green steel production at Port Kembla using Australian iron ore.
• Bluescope uses coal mined in the Schedule 1 Special Areas of the Greater Sydney Water Catchment, sourced from Dendrobium and Metropolitan mines. This water catchment is arguably Greater Sydney’s most important strategic asset and it should not be compromised or degraded by underground coal mining. The damage, desiccation and contamination of the catchment is unjustifiable and unsustainable; Bluescope should move to a more ethical and environmentally responsible method of steel production, one which does not damage the water catchment for the 5.5 million residents of Greater Sydney.
• In a decarbonising world, priority transition to green steel would provide job security for steelworkers. It would also create jobs for workers in the Illawarra’s other carbon intensive industries, such as coal mining

Bluescope’s proposed investment in a coal fired blast furnace reline is not consistent with the serious nature of the climate crisis. I urge the Minister to reject this project and partner with Bluescope in a transition to green steel production at Port Kembla Steel Works.

I object due to carbon emissions that this project will cause from burning coal for the next 20 years, and because the coal will be extracted from under our drinking water catchment. This money would be better invested on research and innovation in green steel technogy.