Longwall information clamped
Thursday, 22 March 2007 04:00
A member of the committee in the southern coalfield resigned yesterday after speaking to a newspaper about the cracking, pollution and cliff falls that have occurred to the Cataract River near the Appin 3 mine. The member resigned after BHP Billiton attempted to insert a clause in the group's constitution that information should not be used to generate adverse publicity for the company and that such behaviour would be viewed as a breach of trust.
"After damaging yet another river in Sydney's drinking catchment, BHP Billiton now appears to be focussing its efforts on gagging and intimidating members of the community who speak out about what longwall mining is doing to our river systems", said TEC campaigner David Burgess.
"BHP Billiton's behaviour is undemocratic and flies in the face of what community consultation is all about - informing the community of what's going on. What's the point of community consultation if the community is unable to be told what's happening to our rivers?
"BHP Billiton is clearly worried about the destruction their longwall mining is wreaking upon their reputation and don’t want the damage to Sydney's drinking catchment and aquatic ecosystems to come further under the spotlight. Rather than spending their time bullying members of the public they should change their practices to avoid all damage to water resources. And if they can't, the next NSW Government should make them."
BHP Billiton were granted an approval for Appin 3 last August by the Department of Primary Industry. The approval allowed the company to mine within 80m of the Upper Cataract despite the recommendations of an independent consultant engaged by the Sydney Catchment Authority that mining come no closer than 350m.
Minutes of the Interagency Review Committee meeting that preceded the approval also revealed that BHP Billiton had been "difficult to obtain information from" and that when information was forthcoming it was "minimal with no backup information."
