Community groups have raised the alarm about the release of billions of litres of polluted water from Central Queensland coal mines following heavy rain, calling for action to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the rivers that flow into it.
Groups say that the current systems for monitoring and reporting mean that there is no clear and transparent way to understand the individual and cumulative impacts of these releases, both on other water users in the Fitzroy Basin, and on the GBR lagoon.
On Thursday, the Environment Department’s website showed nearly a dozen large coal mines were releasing massive volumes of mine affected water into Central Queensland rivers within the Fitzroy Basin. The mines include BHP’s Peak Downs and Goonyella coal mine, which have previously been penalised for uncontrolled releases of mine affected water.
As of April 3, the Queensland Government’s website estimated that the total amount of water being released from all of the releasing coal mines is 118,514.2 litres/second. That’s 47 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of coal-affected water every minute, heading through farmland, townships and to the reef.
Among the largest releases was Glencore’s Hail Creek coal mine, which has been releasing roughly 20,000 litres of polluted mine water per second since March 31.
Lock the Gate Alliance Central Queensland Coordinator Claire Gronow said, “Just because something is legal, it doesn’t mean it’s right. The release of so much polluted mine water right now just doesn’t pass the pub test.
“There’s very little transparency concerning the impacts of these releases, because coal mining companies largely do their own monitoring.
“These billions of litres of mine-affected water will travel right through crucial farming country and all the way into the Great Barrier Reef.
“There are risks all along the Fitzroy for other users who rely on the quality of the water and then for the Great Barrier Reef where sediment and pollution poses a risk to marine life.
“It’s also worrying given that the Fitzroy River has been named as the venue for the Olympic rowing event. We don’t want Olympic rowers paddling out into waters polluted with heavy metals from coal mines upstream.
“There’s no turning back contaminated water - once the floodgates are open, the community, our waterways and our reef bear the consequences.”
ENDS
Water release amounts for DETSI website:
The total amount of water being released on Thursday 3 April from all of the releasing coal mines is at least 118,514.2 Litres/second.
Here's the breakdown:
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Carborough Downs mine, Fitzroy (CQ): 68 L/s + 15.7 L/s + 252.5 L/s = 336.2 L/s
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Cook Colliery mine: 1 L/s
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Curragh mine: 100 L/s
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Daunia mine: 400 L/s
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Goonyella Riverside mine: 71156 L/s
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Hail Creek mine: 16160 L/s + 3070 L/s = 19230 L/s
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Moranbah North mine: 100 L/s
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North Goonyella mine: 816 L/s
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Peak Downs mine: 2590 L/s + 7430 L/s + 5090 L/s = 15110 L/s
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Poitrel mine: 5440 L/s
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South Walker Creek mine: 200 L/s + 400 L/s = 600 L/s