MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 8 May 2026
The Gardens of Stone Alliance is calling for bold action to protect Sydney’s drinking water, as a clean up notice imposed on Centennial Coal has failed to bring down high levels of toxic pollution in the Coxs River.
New readings show pollution in the catchment remains severe, despite intervention by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
Water monitoring by Lithgow Environment Group this week recorded salinity levels of 1448 µS/cm in the Coxs River downstream of Centennial Coal’s Springvale mine operations near Wangcol Creek, compared with an environmentally healthy level of 38.5 µS/cm upstream of mining impacts.
The EPA’s January Clean Up Notice stated that saline discharges from the mine were exceeding Australian water quality guideline values and ordered the coal mine to address contaminated water management at the site.
Quotes attributed to Jacqui Mills, Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner at Nature Conservation Council of NSW:
“Time is up for Centennial Coal. They need to stop treating the headwaters of Sydney’s drinking water catchment as a dumping ground and find solutions to the large volumes of polluted wastewater generated by their coal operations.”
“What’s worse, Centennial Coal wants to expand its coal mines. This would mean even greater pollution discharges and is completely unacceptable."
“The NSW Government promised before the election to strengthen water quality protections for the Sydney catchment. It is time to deliver on that commitment.”
Quotes attributed to Steph Lentz, Campaigner at the Gardens of Stone Alliance:
“The EPA intervened because pollution levels were already deeply concerning. Months later, we are still seeing extremely high salinity levels downstream of the mine."
“The question now is what happens next. The community cannot accept this becoming normalised.”
“It’s outrageous that there remains no enforceable salinity limits for discharges from Centennial Coal licensed discharge point 1 despite the EPA previously indicating limits would be considered.”
Western Sydney University water pollution expert Dr Ian Wright has described this discharge point into Wangcol Creek (LDP001) as “the most poorly regulated waste discharge point in the whole of the Sydney Basin”.
ENDS
Media contact: Anna Greer
E: [email protected] Ph: (02) 7208 9482
Note: Spokespeople are available for comment on request
Notes
The Alliance formally notified the EPA of the latest salinity readings on 6 May 2026 and is calling for salinity limits to be imposed on the site. It is also asking the NSW Government to reinstate the robust water quality test it previously championed for all projects affecting the Sydney drinking water catchment, and to reject any proposal that would worsen pollution risks. Further information: Stop the Pollution Loophole: reinstate real protection for Sydney’s drinking water - 4nature
The readings come more than three months after an EPA-directed pollution reduction trial at Centennial’s licensed discharge point after repeated community complaints about highly saline discharges from the site.