A Massive Coal Mine Expansion In NSW Is One Step Closer To Being Approved
The NSW Government endorsed plans for Whitehaven Coal operate in the Narrabri mine for an extra 13 years.
Activists are furious at the NSW Government for recommending approval on a coal mine expansion that would contribute nearly half a billion tonnes of additional emissions.
Australia’s largest independent coal producer Whitehaven applied to extend its presence in the Narrabri underground mine for another 13 years, as well as develop new infrastructure, and permit additional coal reserve mining. The project in northwest NSW already sees 11 million tonnes of coal extracted annually. On Wednesday, the state planning and environment department endorsed the proposal and passed it onto the Independent Planning Commission to make a final call next month.
Grassroots alliance Lock the Gate said if the plans go any further, the expansion would drain groundwater from an already drought devastated area, create an estimated 31 million tonnes of direct greenhouse pollution, as well as 455 million tonnes of downstream emissions, while also threatening the Pilliga Forest and Namoi River.
“The department’s decision to recommend approval to this huge new source of greenhouse pollution is particularly infuriating because, for the first time, the department actually sought advice about the project’s carbon emissions,” said spokesperson Georgina Woods in a statement.
Last May, the same department described Whitehaven’s extension plans to be “counterintuitive” and filled with “inconsistencies”, after modelling of the predicted impact on groundwater.
A similar coal mine extension project in Gunnedah received international attention after a class action by teenagers tried to stop the Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley from granting Whitehaven another approval in the Vickery mine in June. It was given the green light by Ley in September.
Whitehaven told the ABC they were pleased with the direction of the Narrabri extension proposal, and claimed NSW has “one of the most comprehensive mining project approval frameworks in the world”.
“This is a company with no coherent climate change policy, an environmental rap sheet as long as your arm, and a serious trust deficit with the local community,” said Woods. “It’s up to the Independent Planning Commission now to stop this reckless expansion from proceeding.”
Photo Credit: Whitehaven Coal