I fully support this project

I am writing to object to the continuation of the Mangoola Coal Mine.

I don't believe the Upper Hunter region can sustain the current level of mining in the area without serious impacts to the health and wellbeing of its residents and our other existing industries and I feel this specific project creates some significant risks for the Upper Hunter community.

In particular, the NSW Government has yet to set an evidence based cap on air pollution for this air shed, or on water pollution for this catchment. I therefore think the precautionary principle should be applied and no additional impacts (in terms of the extent or duration of air and water pollution) should be approved without this cap in place.

Furthermore, I believe the continuation of this mine needs to be fairly evaluated against the opportunity costs. The Upper Hunter Community has expressed through its recent submissions to this Department, that it prefers a future based on more sustainable industries including agriculture and tourism. Any additional impact on our environment, our air quality or the quantity and quality of water impacts that alternative future.

This continuation of this mine will push more residents out of the region as they seek to move away from its impacts. This robs the area of talent for other industries, community connectedness and its sense of history.

The rehabilitation plan for this mine is inadequate. It should be the policy of the NSW Government that no additional open voids can be left in the Upper Hunter landscape.

Finally, the continuation of this mine should be rejected on the basis of its climate change impacts and intergenerational equity. Rough calculations indicate that the Scope 3 emissions from this project are roughly equivalent to Australia's entire Paris Target. At a time when Pacific leaders are calling for Australia to develop a transition plan and when other countries around the world are moving away from coal it is entirely inappropriate to effectively sign off on further dangerous emissions.

As a current employee at Mangoola I will be supporting the extension. We have friends at the mine that live in the area & our children attending school here.
The majority of our workforce are local to the area with over half from Muswellbrook. We will be continuing to mine coal at the current rate at 13.5mtpa & extending the life of the mine approximately 5 years (still approximately the same original lifetime approval of the mine).
We support the local communities with funding for projects & different groups.
Our rehabilitation of the site uses industry leading practices & will continue to do so.
As we run 24/7 we use different dumps at night to the day to minimise noise & lighting so as to not affect our neighbours in the area as well as slowing down or stopping when required in hot/windy conditions.

I have seen the way the Mangoola project has been managed & the rehabilitation thereafter, which I found very impressive. A benchmark operation.
I believe that the continued use of coal is required for power stations & steel production & the quality of coal from Mangoola is premium. Consequently it is a cleaner burning coal, which has benefits for the environment. Mining this coal I feel is important because should mining of this quality of coal cease, it will be replaced by an inferior grade of coal, consequently creating a dirtier environment.
The extension of Mangoola will maintain 480 current jobs in the region & also provide over 100 additional jobs in construction. The mine also contributes to the local & national economy. The use of coal worldwide is mandatory for the provision of energy & for manufacturing. Unfortunately there is no reliable, cost effective & acceptable base load technology at the moment to replace it.

I believe we currently continue to need coal as an energy source to provide base load power & we should use high quality coal such as that mined at Mangoola to minimise pollution. I believe Mangoola operates to the highest industry standard & that their operation is more efficient & less damaging than others in the region. They provide a crucial source of local employment & the employees whom I have met, speak highly of working conditions & Glencorp's responsible attitudes toward their staff & the operation in general. The local economy is benefited by the operation along with the Australian economy.
I recently attended an open day at Mangoola & was very impressed by their continual rehabilitation of the site as their operations progress along the seam. Their Environmentalist was proud to show me a species of tree which was endangered prior to their operation, & has been successfully reintroduced as part of their site rehabilitation process. The appearance of their rehabilitated mining areas was very natural, more so than the rehabilitated areas I saw that belong to other Mines.

“Tillabudgery”
760 Ridgelands Road
Wybong NSW 2333

MANGOOLA COAL CONTINUED OPERATIONS PROJECT OBJECTION

I object to the expansion of Mangoola Coal’s operational area to the north and thus considerably nearer my home. The noise and dust from the existing mine already spoil my quality of life and devalue my property. Any hint of it moving closer has caused neighbouring properties that were on the open market becoming unsaleable. Potential buyers have walked away from making an offer when they learned of the mine expansion.

Mangoola Coal stands to make tens of millions of dollars from selling the coal but that is on the backs of local residents who only get a severe downgrade on their biggest asset. The Community Enhancement Programme benefits only those residing in local towns and further away. Items such as cleaning water tanks and insulating houses goes only part of the way to cleaning up the mess that they have caused. The Social Impact Assessment clearly indicates the serious effect this mine expansion will have on those who have to move on for health, retirement, family issues, etc. The EIS fails to address this issue at all. For this reason alone approval should be denied.

The consequent generation of greenhouse gases both from extraction and later burning of the coal has not been addressed in mitigating actions. New South Wales and Australia are bound to take actions under international agreements, let alone protection of their citizens, to curtail and mitigate the effects of GHG.

The expansion project will add a further void to be left by coal mining in the Upper Hunter without a long term beneficial use. This wanton damage to the environment to be left as a liability for future generations cannot be allowed to continue. In a manner similar to the revegetation and remediation carried out on spoil surfaces the proponent should be compelled to undertake beneficial remediation of the void area. Examples of beneficial use of voids are present in Australia and overseas and must be mandated into the mine plan.

The EIS specifically mentions the possible future further expansion of the mining area without specifying any particular direction. This adds to the uncertainty for nearby landholders and will further detract from the asset value of their properties and their saleability. Further expansion should either be spelt out or ruled out.

Wendy Morgan
28th August 2019

I strongly object to the expansion of the Mangoola Mine.
The fact that coal has a finite life makes is implausible to continue to mine and decimate the land and communities affected for such a short term and then have the land unusable for 20 years as well as a great big hole in the ground that will have water in it that is not suitable for any agricultural use and in this time of drought would be a difficult sight to see. Imagine being able to see water and not be able to use it?
People are being uprooted from their homes (some that have lived in them for generations) and tearing apart a community that has thrived since the early 1900s. Those that choose to sell can't due to property devaluation and no one wanting to buy a property that is so close to a mine and have to deal with all the mine dust (even though we are told that we are not affected by dust significantly), noise and uncertainty, and if they are bought out, where do they go? If they want to continue the lifestyle they have then they have to move right away from the area and then they have to find comparable land size and productivity - not an easy task. If they decide to stay and downsize then they still have to find another dwelling when they really didn't want to in the first place.
I find it laughable that the modelling gives a line where the dust and noise end. We are just outside their "zone" and funnily enough the dust and noise do not just stop where the line is, we have black grimy dust in our pool and on our house and solar panels. The noise has increased, which will only get worse as it gets closer. How can a number be put on someone's lifestyle?
People's health in the area is being affected. I have never suffered hayfever in my life but since Mangoola opened I have increasing been subjected to bouts of hayfever, I can only assume that it will not improve if the expansion goes ahead. I have gone away and had no issues and then come home only to have it start again. My children also have suffered from hayfever which they never did before.
Mangoola has stated that it will employ up to 480 people however 400 people already work at Mangoola and they will only be employing a further 80 at the most and the construction phase will only be contractors and not permanent employees. The information sent out I feel is misleading as it implies that they will be employing a further 480 people which gives people the feeling that there will be more jobs available and be happy for the expansion to go ahead. These will not be guaranteed to be local either which when the final number of employees is revealed people may not be so happy that they supported the expansion but by then it will be too late.
I strongly objected to this expansion.
I
I don't feel that the expansion will benefit the town of Muswellbrook any more than it already is. The workers who don't live in the area (and from what I can fathom there area a lot) do not help the community in any way except for a bit of food for the days they are here and some rent, rent which could be utilised by the many other residents in the town looking for accommodation who actually live in the town full time. The renters of the mine owned houses at Wybong, for the most part, are not interested in being part of the community. I'm not saying that they have to be, but the fact that the membership of the Wybong Hall has gone from 50 to 12 is proof that the mine has fractured the area to a point where it may not recover. The Hall used to have dances every month with in excess of 80 people coming to these as well as other functions but now, due to the fact that there is no one left, the Hall only has one to three functions a year.

This project will benefit my family and career. We will stay in the area should it go ahead.

I object to the project for the reasons set out in the attached submission.