As BP Solar announced this week it was packing up the picnic and emigrating, we were reminded how much fun it is going to be now that we are alone with Nat King Coal. Not only does the coal industry pollute the atmosphere, it has a few good rivers on its conscience as well. Caroline Graham takes up the story. Caroline is a retired lecturer from the UTS Humanities Faculty. In 1998 she was involved in taking BHP Billiton to court after they damaged the Cataract River in the NSW Southern Highlands. She was a founder of the Nepean Action Group, formed to stop BHP mining under the Nepean, near its junction with the Cataract.
On the radio the other day I heard a bloke say that watching his cherished patch of forest being cleared for development was like losing a child. He was having trouble trying to express the heartbreak. Now more than ever we need a word to describe the pangs of grief and loss felt when witnessing a loved environment being destroyed.
Dr Glen Albrecht of Newcastle University realized the lack when interviewing communities in the Hunter Valley. He coined the slightly cumbersome term “solastalgia” to denote the feelings of people who, in this instance, were seeing their environment being wrecked by coal mining operations. If you’ve driven up the New England Highway recently you’ll understand.
I live on the Cataract River at Douglas Park, near where it flows into the Nepean. We bought the bush block nearly 40 years ago, because of the beautiful river: its pristine water, its rocky pools, its little waterfalls, the kingfishers darting along its surface, the giant eucalypts reflected in the ponds, the wombats, carpet snakes and wallabies in the gorge. The handbook of the NSW Canoeists Association once described this stretch of the river as a “thrilling rapids run.” But much of the water and all of that beauty disappeared in the 1990s, when BHP Billiton put a series of longwall coal mines under the river and gorge.
By the time the coal was extracted, the riverbed was cracked in thousands of places, the water was draining away down the cracks so half the flow was gone, the ecotoxic chemicals leaching out of the fractured rocks, plus the saline groundwater, turned the river water first orange, and now, twelve years later, a weird milky green colour. Methane gas vents erupted ferociously through the water, and some are still bubbling away now. There were eleven cliff falls along my stretch of the Cataract, and it is probably not safe to walk in the gorge, as the rock overhangs are so unstable.
In 1998 eight families along the river won a case against BHP Billiton for wrecking our river. Thanks to the law firm Slater & Gordon, after a long hearing in the Mining Warden’s Court we were given small monetary compensation for “nuisance.” This term is inadequate to describe our grief – “solastalgia” should be a new legal cause for damages – but we felt vindicated. We also felt virtuous because we believed that BHP Billiton and other mining companies would not damage any more rivers.
How galling it was to learn that the company was, even while fighting us in court, planning to mine under the Georges River nearby ! Needless to say, they also badly damaged this river near Appin, and a beautiful swimming hole used by generations of local families was cracked, discoloured and drained. Due to a rockfall, the company had to hire a security guard to warn local kids not to break their necks by diving into the pool. The company has grouted up some of the cracks now, and the pool holds water again to some extent, but nobody swims there now.
A little later we found that this escalating destruction of rivers, creeks and aquifers was happening on all the five coal fields of NSW. The Goulburn River near Mudgee was “re-located” for kilometers to facilitate coal mining, and it and its tributaries are under further threat now. In the Hunter, three large creeks disappeared entirely, due to mining operations. Bowmans Creek, South Wambo Creek and Diega Creek simply vanished. Property owners either sold up, or trucked water in for stock.
In the Western Coalfield, the Grose River in the Blue Mountains National Park, and the Cox’s and Wolgan Rivers are all badly contaminated.
In Sydney’s drinking water catchment, in the supposedly highly protected Special Areas, underground mining is allowed to damage rivers, swamps and creeks, though you and I could be fined up to $11000 for setting foot in here. BHP Billiton’s Dendrobium mine has just desiccated the first of a number of wetlands feeding the Avon-Cordeaux dam catchment. This company was also given permission to mine only 70m from the Upper Cataract where it flows through the Metropolitan Special Area. The predictable result: a stretch of this river erupted with methane vents, large cracks appeared along with the usual contamination from iron oxides, manganese and other chemicals.
Similarly, in the Special Area around the Woronora Dam, the Waratah Rivulet has suffered widespread cracking, draining and discolouration thanks to the US-owned Peabody coal mine – yet this river provided 30% of the water in Woronora Dam, which supplies Sutherland Shire with its drinking water. The company plans to mine on up the river and even under the dam itself.
I could go on listing the dozens of creeks which have been wrecked, not to mention a number of major rivers under threat from future mine plans. These include the Namoi and the Mooki Rivers on the Liverpool Plains, part of the Murray-Darling basin. Farmers are blockading BHP Billiton’s exploration drill rigs from entering their properties as I write. Then there is the Pages River near Scone. And I haven’t even mentioned the serious problem of acid mine drainage from abandoned mines, or the fact that the collieries typically pump out mine waste water into the nearest river (an average 5 tonnes of salt per day are being pumped from Tahmoor Colliery into the Bargo Rive, and there are plans to do likewise in Mammy Johnsons River which provides drinking water for Stroud and Stroud Town).
It is up to the NSW Government to refuse approval to mine plans which threaten NSW’s river systems, water resources and catchments. But the Rivers SOS Alliance needs the people of NSW to help our campaign and to spread the word, otherwise the Government will not listen.
Please have a look at our web site for more information: www.riverssos.com
This testimony is vital as we suburbanites weigh up whether to ‘use clean energy’ or put up coal powered Christmas lights. Thanks.
Thanks James for publishing this important story.
This is happening across NSW – Southern Catchment (Illawarra and Sthn Highlands), Hunter, Mudgee, Caroona, Stroud and Gloucester, and Lithgow and district.
Sydney will have most of the Southern Catchment undermined by coal mines over the next 20 years, unless the people of NSW wake up to themselves, and their cash-strapped Government.
Why spend a fortune on an expensive Desal plant, and yet allow coal companies to destroy rivers which feed water free to Sydney? It makes little economic sense, and that is to ignore the Environmental impacts within the Catchment, which is meant to be administered as a National Park, but which is being used as a mine and a dumping ground for coal mine waste products.
Denis Wilson
Save Water Alliance
Robertson NSW
We are living proof of the trauma.The word i would use is desacration-of life itself.
Thank you for reporting on this issue and giving people the chance to give their comments.
I live along The Bucketts Way, a designated NSW Tourist Drive to Stroud, Gloucester and the Barrington Tops. Tourism is the major boom for this whole area from the (stage coach era), which brings in a constant stream of people, and with special events in local Towns, along The Bucketts Way brings in many hundreds or many thousands of people to the area.
People camp, swim and enjoy the free flowing and clean Creeks & Rivers, with the village atmosphere these towns provide this beautiful escape in a rich country/rural land, natural bushland abounds. A tourist drive worth driving. Come soon before its too late!
This whole area is under threat from all forms of mining. Coal mining expansion or new coal pits near Creeks & Rivers under threat of being used as drains. Lucas Gas intends to “trench through Creeks” and “bore under Rivers”, to lay their gas pipe, and wants to put in potentially hundreds of gas wells from Gloucester (The Bucketts Mountain range to the other mountain ranges on other side), going down to potentially the back boundary Isaccs Road Booral.
We will no longer be a Tourist Drive. We will become a basin of mining towns, taken over by coal mining. or gas wells, or other mining companies. These companies operate with no regard for the damage they are and will be doing, in their greed to dig up these resources simply ‘because they can’, or ‘because our Government todate has not put a hold on mining in food growing areas, or near water resources, in NSW and around Australia’.
In some areas whole townships are being bought up at a rapid rate, Craven Village more than 1/2 bought up by Gloucester Coal Limited, as the ever greedy coal company, seeks to engulf whole valleys, or towns on their move to turn this beautiful rich grazing land, vast areas of bushland, native animals habitat, all under threat from being turned into a mining wasteland, profit for the select few, at the expense of many people, the wildlife and the environment.
Gloucester Coal Limited, who owns Stratford Coal Pty Ltd and Duralie Coal Pty Ltd, put an application into Government in August 2008, to have their ‘Conditions of Consent’ altered giving them permission to direct discharge their mine water into Mammy Johnsons River which flows to the Karuah River, Port Stephens area, Nelson Bay and out to the Ocean.
The Mammy Johnsons River flows into the Karuah River and is the drinking water of Stroud and Stroud Road townships. Yet not even this stops a mining company from seeking to pollute into this river system.
In Early November 2008 Duralie Coal (with their first application still pending) , has made a (second application) to the Government to expand their existing coal pit for 20 years (not the 8 years they promised as a botique mine); and seeks to have approval to dig 2 more coal pits, also seeking to discharge their mine water directly into Coal Shaft Creek and/or Mammy Johnsons River. Coal Shaft Creek already has been destroyed by Gloucester Coal Limited/Duralie Coal P/L , which now is a series of concrete steps and pipes. Where Platapus once lived amongst other native animals, they are no longer in existence.
Coal Shaft Creek runs directly into Mammy Johnsons River. Yet there is nothing in Government todate that takes an application such as this one and rips it up on the spot, stamped ‘REJECTED DON’T REAPLY’
The Government must NEVER EVER approve these applications to allow companies such as Gloucester Coal Limited/Duralie Coal Pty Ltd to pollute the environment (on a ‘trial basis’, as Duralie Coal is stating). THERE IS NO SUCH THING!
Regardless of it being a mining company or an industry. The Government must stop this happening. The fact it happens to the Hunter River should be stopped immediately. The fact that Gloucester Coal discharges from Stratford Coal P/L and was approved to do so, into the Avon River, which flows to the little Manning and the Manning River Taree should be stopped immediately.
Polluting into Water sources is illegal? So why does the mining companies & industries get away with environmental vandalism, destroying huge tracts of land and pollution into waterways?, when Creeks, Rivers and Water Sources belong to us all.
We have had enough creeks & rivers, killed off and poisoned by mine discharge or direct damage to creeks, rivers, aquafas and other water sources from mining, around NSW/Australia and the world.
Please; we must not ‘stick our heads in the sand’ any longer. We must become active in saying to our Government. Enough is Enough!, the water sources that mining companies are killing off belongs to everyone, and should be left alone in their natural state, not to be used as a quick sollution for these mining companies in getting their waste water off their premises, to become someone elses problem.
It took 12 years for the Creeks and Billabong to die at Kurri Kurri from acid draininge from a disused coal mine. We don’t want this to happen to our Creeks and Rivers to the Ocean or anywhere else.
Rivers are being killed off by mining forming part of Sydneys Catchment, Nappean, Cataract, Waratah Rivulet’, the Grose River in the Blue Mountains, the magnetite mine in Tasmania that has polluted the river below.
This environmental pollution must stop immediately. Mining companies need to learn by their own mistakes or by the mistakes other mining companies have done in NSW, Australia and around the world. AND NOT BE REPEAT OFFENDERS!
There is enough evidence of mining vandalism in NSW, Australia & World Wide. To continue to ‘do the same’ and have no regard for Towns Water Supply, is absolute arrogance on everyones part responsible for allowing it to happen in the first place.
Stop the dumping into creeks, rivers, water sources.
Stop digging up and polluting areas that should be preserved.
Stop destroying our rural lands and food growing areas in NSW and around Australia.
Some areas around Australia must remain ‘hands off’ from mining companies and their mining impact and destruction to rural land, food growing land and our precious resource water, must be preserved at all cost.
Mining in Australia is ‘out of balance’ and ‘has been for a very long time’. When mining is impacting people through affects of mining on their lives, destroying their property, pushing them off their land, destroying huge tracts of land for people and wildlife, destroying water sources. SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO STOP IT!
Not the other way around that mining takes all and continues to do so, at the expense of everyone for the select few people making (profits, shares, dividens), while destroying other peoples lives, land, heritage & environment etc.
The environment belongs to each and every one of us. We are all responsible to do our part, to see that it is preserved for generations to come, and to reduce our personal imprint.
Government must stop mining projects along The Bucketts Way. The whole area needs to be reassessed as Tourism is being pushed out.
Already our mountains are being open cut from coal mining, which can be seen on your right as you drive to Gloucester during the day time. At night some areas are flood lit like day time (unnatural for a rural setting and country drive).
BGSP Alliance, together with Gloucester Council and Great Lakes Council are calling on Government for a Commission of Inquiry into the whole of the Valley Basin from Barrington to Limeburners Creek, to halt mining expansion and exploration until there is a full Environmental Impact Study done of the whole area.
SOME AREAS OF AUSTRALIA MUST REMAIN FREE FROM MINING.
OUR FOOD GROWING AREAS AND WATER SOURCES MUST BE LEFT ALONE FROM ANY MINING.
MINING AT TIMES MUST TAKE A ‘BACK SEAT’.
Amanda Albury
Ironstone Community Action Group
PH: (M) 0403 645 521
HEAR HEAR Amanda as you say something needs to happen to put a stop to this desacration.The only way is people power the government will not stop it because of their insatiable greed for easy money and their addiction to coal mining to feed their missmanagement of government money.Food water and environment first money last that is the only way and it is possible i am proof of it.We here at Ulan live in a once pristine valley and now are surrounded by Xstrata on one side peabodys on the other side Transgrid on the back fence waiting with their mulchers and chainsaws to come onto our place to errect their cancer causing transmission line and also now felix recources on the fourth side so i have been here for 6 years now watching the world dying around me.I have seen acid dews acid rain explosions shaking the ground we stand on and i have also seen the changes in animal breeding and plant life trying to work out what is happening.Every thing i have seen and heard shows me that the climate is changing on coal. THIS FOLLOWING PARRAGRAGH CAME FROM A BOOK I READ ABOUT ENVIRONMENTALLISTS TRYING TO STOP COAL IN THE 1800s Furthermore as coal is replaced by other energy sources there is a concomitant natural purrification of the atmosphere.In other words, the air becomes cleaner.Easier to breathe.WE have the ability to create the FUTURE.Will we create it in the image of nature or the image of the devil.WE are only davids fighting goliaths.But in this fight we should never tire.WE must fight till victory or to death.Soon the day may come when we are forced to take matters into our own hands.But fear not.We know that for everyone of us that are silenced another will stand up to take their place to fight for the glory of nature.NATURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
CHEERS ROB
Why do our governments continue to turn a blind eye to all of this, and keep approving these mines? It is hard to believe that all this destruction is allowed purely for the eternal chase for the almighty dollar! Our children’s, our countries and our worlds future risked for such a short term gain. We here in the Felton Valley 30km outside of Toowoomba QLD are also waging a battle against a huge open cut coal mine and pertrochemical plant proposed in our area by a company called Ambre Energy. Not only is their process hugely polluting (3 tonnes CO2 per 1 tonne of dimethyl ether they are hoping to produce), but their technology is as yet unproven – they want to make this a test project. This operation threatens prime, fertile agrigultural land, proven viable over the last 100 or so years and threatens the pollution of our underground aquifers and of Hodgson Creek, the headwaters to the Murray Darling Basin. And all this for technology which might not even be succesfull – how idiotic!!
Dear James,
Thank you for publishing Caroline’s tale.
With the announcement that the coal industry is about to embark on a $62 billion increase in operations, the state of our groundwater and surface supplies will be dire in a few years.
It is clear that any attempt at environmental regulation is mere lip service since Australia is more dependant on coal production to fund government coffers than any other country on earth.
What is not clear is that Australia is facing the worst water crisis of any country in the Global North. For water experts throughout the world, we are the ‘poster boy’ : a classic case of what not to do about future water availability!
Until we claim out right to water as a Commons, we will just sit a suffer the outrages of mining companies, bottling companies and trans-nationals privatising our scarce water resources.
Since little has changed following the demise of the Howard regime, a grass roots movement seems the only way any change will be effected.
The message is simple. Its our water: our future.
The decision makers will only listen when they hear the ground shift under their feet.
Bernard Eddy
Australian Water Network
bernard.awn@southernphone.com.au
Digging for coal « Belief and the Environment // Jan 11, 2009 at 8:57 pm
[...] and eloquent description of the problem on the Real Dirt blog of James Woodford, ‘Riverstalgia: How Coal Companies are stealing our rivers’ [...]