I fully support the project due to my family benefitting from full time employment at HVO. This allows us to live in the hunter valley and support our local businesses.

Director Energy and Resource Policy,
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Locked Bag 502
Parramatta NSW 2124

Dr Christine Underhill
16A Battery Street
Coogee
NSW 2034
21st February 2023
Submission against the North and South Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) Continuation Project
I am a concerned 60-year-old Australian who has been visiting the Hunter regions for the last 30 years. I am against the proposed HVO continuation project. My reasons are outlined below.
• Three years ago the International Energy Agency provided a landmark report on what will be required in terms of our energy production and consumption if we want to have a hope of reaching net zero by 2050... of avoiding catastrophic global warming. This requires phasing out coal, oil and gas and investing massively in renewable energy sources. It also specified, very clearly, that we cannot afford to open any no new oil or gas fields, or any new coal mines/ extensions to existing coal mines, by 2022.
• HVO seeks approval to more than triple Scope 1 fugitive methane emissions from 182,625t CO2-e projected for 2023 to 590,284 t CO2-e in 2030 at a time when the Global Methane Pledge (to which Australia is a signatory) requires at least a 30% cut in methane emissions globally by 2030.
• This is the most polluting project in NSW since the Paris agreement.
• Glencoe plan to increase their diesel use rather than electrifying their fleet for this project, they have no credible greenhouse emission reduction action plan, they have terrible credential and have been prosecuted for bribery and fined millions of dollars in the UK and elsewhere int the world.
• The newly discovery and potentially endangered legless lizard is at risk from the project, as is 97 hectares which is home of Threatened Ecological Communities.
• Aboriginal Heritage There are significant Aboriginal heritage sites adjacent to these areas, which the IPC have found would be impacted by this project. Significant sites have already been destroyed by mining and our laws are inadequate to protect these sites.
• Impact on current local economy Mines provide a flow of revenue to governments and their (mostly foreign) owners, however, the flow on to local businesses and local communities is generally not seen. The Hunter in the biggest coal export terminal, yet they only contribute to two percent (2%) of State Revenue; the rest goes overseas. T
• There will be a loss of agricultural lands, farms would disappear or lose their water, and productive agricultural lands would be dug up or left fallow.
• The people in the region have built long-term sustainable economic stability for this region. This revenue stays in the pockets of our local businesses. Businesses that have helped build the tourism industry in the region include vineyards, olive groves, horse studs, beef and sheep farms, eco-tourism, short stay accommodation, restaurants, cafes, antique shops, soft furnishings and knick-knacks for example. These businesses are incompatible with mining: tourists do not come to see coal mines.
• Mining is a specialist industry. People with the skills tend to follow the mines and very few additional local jobs are created. Like many industries, mining is becoming more automated, requiring fewer people. Over the next five years, mining is predicted to create just 0.4 percent of new jobs across all of Australia.
• The cost of living, especially housing, is often driven up to levels locals can no longer afford, as they cannot compete with the high wages miners receive.
• Social & health implications Air, water, soil and noise pollution, do not stay within the boundaries of the coal mining sites. The neighbouring Hunter Valley is now a pollution ‘hotspot’ and has some of the highest rates for respiratory and cardiac conditions in NSW. Mines can be associated with increased rates of alcohol and drug abuse, violence, sexual assaults, and other crimes in adjoining communities.
Please take my submission into consideration before making a decision regarding this mine extension
Yours sincerely,
Dr Christine Underhill

I support the project

I would like to support this project due to the maintained jobs it supports for this area. The footprint is mainly already mined land with deeper seams being mined. It makes sense to continue the operation with already affected land.
The need of electricity continues with infrastructure to renewable option not going to be ready in time. The Australians emissions is nothing to what the world produces and it's about time the government started looking after the future of their people rather then the radical minority.

Sincerely
Paul Murray.

This would be the most polluting project in NSW since the Paris Agreement: Glencore and
Yancoal’s Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project would be responsible for 1.2
billion tonnes of total carbon emissions and is the single largest new coal project
proposed in NSW since the Paris Agreement.
Eight new coal mine proposals in the NSW planning system right now (which are all
likely to determined in 2023) represent the largest increase of new coal capacity
proposed in NSW since the Paris Agreement entered into force at the end of 2016.

Instead of electrifying their mining fleet to eliminate diesel emissions, Yancoal
and Glencore are applying to steadily increase their diesel emissions. This
Project seeks approval to increase it’s Scope 1 diesel emissions by 43% by next decade

Air pollution
● The expansion of activities at HVO would inevitably result in degraded air quality, with
significant and prolonged air pollution in the form of PM10 and PM 2.5 emissions.
The Project would clear 397 ha of native vegetation, 97.4 ha of which is home to
Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs)

Biodiversity
At least two TECs face ‘Serious and Irreversible Impacts (SAII)’ as a result of the
Project, being Hunter Floodplain Red Gum Woodland in the NSW North Coast and
Sydney Basin Bioregions EEC and Warkworth Sands Woodland in the Sydney Basin
Bioregion EEC.

● The newly discovered legless lizard - the Hunter Valley delma (Delma vescolineata) -
is also at risk. While the Hunter Valley delma is not currently listed as a threatened
species, it is expected that it soon will be. It is understood that the species has been
nominated for listing under the Commonwealth EPBC Act. The species is only known
to occur in a geographically restricted area in the Hunter Valley, which is heavily
impacted by mining.

Please do not allow these projects to proceed for the sake of the environment and future generations of people, flora and fauna.

Regards,
J Howden

1. This is a very confusing application. I am going to submit only one objection and wish it to apply to HVO North and South.
2. 400 Mt? It is difficult to see where this figure comes from. 25x20+18x15 = a lot more than 400, although the application says "up to"
3. Climate. The proponent says extending to 2050, and ending there, fits within the 2050 net zero target of the Government. This is just nonsense. If we are still mining coal up to 2050 we will not be reaching net zero anywhere near then. Other industries like agriculture, steel, chemicals and cement are much more difficult to address. Also it is not about time, but quantity. We need a fairly steep decline starting yesterday.
1.2 Bt of scope 3 emissions is unacceptable and unconscionable. The increased scope 1 and 2 emissions means other industries will have to bear the burden of their own required emissions cuts, as well as the HVO non-cuts
4 Air quality. The proponent admits and addition to the particular load in the air over the Upper Hunter. The air is already saturated to the point where air quality alerts have gone off 45 times already this year
5 Biodiversity. The EIS lists a number of threatened and vulnerable species that live in the 397Ha of additional clearing (some threatened ecological communities) including the fat tailed phasgogale, the newly identified Delma species and a microbat.
6. This is a company that is hostile to any regulation that impedes its road to profit.

My submission for the HVO North Open Cut Coal Continuation Project constitutes the attached poem, The New Cooee March.

I support this mine continuing operations, I think the positives far out weigh any negatives.

I am a proud HVO employee. At HVO, I get to develop myself and my career, surrounded by experienced and knowledgeable colleagues. I get to meet and work alongside fantastic people, most of whom have roots in local communities. And I get to be part of the bigger picture - one small part of a mine that makes a big difference.

When i say a big difference, I mean it. In obvious terms - HVO plays a big role in providing the energy that Australia needs to power every day life. It also contributes significantly to the economy.

But more than that, HVO provides ongoing employment for 1500 people (by extension, supporting their families and the communities they reside in), works with 700 suppliers, considers environmental implications and enforces strict environment controls, and has active involvement in the communities in which it operates. In my time at HVO, I've witnessed and/or been involved in a number of community/charity events - including partnering with SoldierOn, delivering Christmas presents for children in Parkes and Dubbo, having a dedicated fundraising and donations committee, running a Movember fundraising campaign, partnering with charities such as Westpac Helicopter Rescue and Hunter Breast Cancer...the list goes on.

The HVO mine extension is good for me, good for my work mates, good for the local communities and good for the economy. I support this extension and the prospect of a long and exciting future at HVO, providing enormous benefit to the surrounding communities and infrastructure.