16 October, 2015
Clean drinking water the real loser in Blue Mountains mine approval
The NSW Nature Conservation Council has called on the NSW Government to permanently protect Sydney’s drinking water supply following the Federal Government’s approval of a coal mine extension in the Blue Mountains region near Lithgow.
“The Federal Government has given the green light for a damaging coal mine in Sydney’s drinking water catchment to expand, despite its well-documented impacts on endangered swamps that act like giant sponges to secure our water supply,” said Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski.
“Springvale Colliery already discharges unacceptably saline water into the Coxs River and Sydney’s drinking water supply – it should not be allowed to increase its environmental impact by being licensed to dump even more toxic water into the environment.
“It is simply unacceptable that the NSW and federal government’s are doing everything they can to approve this mine and allow this company to threaten the life of a river and the purity of Sydney’s water supply.
“The community of Lithgow shouldn’t have to rely on an industry that pollutes Sydney’s water supply. Instead, they deserve a serious commitment from both levels of government for an orderly transition away from dirty fossil fuels."
Dirty water from the Springvale mine was treated to acceptable levels by a nearby power station until 2012 when the power station closed. Ever since, Springvale has been releasing highly saline water into the Coxs River.
“Unbelievably, both levels of Government are rewarding bad behavior by allowing the mine to continue to release waste water with salinity levels way above natural limits,” Ms Smolski said.
“The Federal Government acknowledges that the mine could harm 14 endangered species and plant communities, but still granted approval.
“The environmental impact of the mine will increase significantly if it the expansion goes ahead, so it is more important than ever that discharges be adequately treated before being pumped into the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
“This mine is further proof that our planning system is skewed towards approving mines regardless of the negative impacts, nothing short of a major overhaul will fix the system for communities and our environment.”
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Coal and gas
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