Mining lobby group engaging in doublespeak

Tuesday, 06 November 2007 01:37

"Claims today by the Minerals Council that underground coal mining poses no threat to the catchments are based on a lack of evidence rather than knowledge that it is having no impact. It's a classic case of doublespeak," said TEC campaigner David Burgess.

Longwall coal mining has expanded rapidly in the southern coalfields since the mid-1990s. It is known to have caused major damage to numerous rivers, creeks and swamps and the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) recently informed the NSW Government's Southern Coalfield Inquiry that up to 91% of Sydney's southern supply catchments could be undermined in the lifetime of the coalfield.

The Minerals Council has claimed that the SCA's data shows no evidence of water loss but TEC has obtained evidence that the SCA has commenced its own monitoring program in the Waratah Rivulet (Woronora Dam catchment) because it doesn't trust the monitoring conducted by mining company, Peabody Energy. The SCA has also included a section on longwall coal mining in its 2007 Leakage and Loss report.

"The Minerals Council also fails to mention that both the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the SCA are seeking to have impacts to water dependent ecosystems prevented. Along with the SCA, the Department of Water and Energy has also questioned whether efforts by mining companies to repair damaged rivers actually work at all," Mr Burgess said.

"Five years ago the Minerals Council was telling us that less than 1% of the southern catchments was affected by longwall mining. Now we hear it will be as high as 91% and the Minerals Council is calling it a necessary 'trade-off' between the environment and the economy.

"You only have to see a drained swamp or a dry, cracked riverbed with what water there is left stained bright orange, and methane gas bubbling to the surface to know there is something very wrong. We are not seeking an end to mining, but rivers and swamps need protection zones and the industry and Department of Minerals have proved to be incapable of self-regulating," Mr Burgess concluded.