BREAKING: Just today (07/12/15) the NSW EPA reported that black dirty water full of coal fines was found coming out of Wollongong Coal's Russell Vale Colliery into Bellambi Creek. https://twitter.com/nsw_epa/status/673690274535596037
Join us tomorrow, December 8th, there will be a public meeting in Wollongong for the Government’s representatives to hear the community's concerns about this mine.
There will be a community rally with guest speakers out the front of the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong from 12 noon on Tuesday December 8th to show support for those community members objecting to the mine inside. Full details are available on Facebook here.
If you can't make the rally on 8 December in Wollongong please take 5 minutes to make a submission on the Russell Vale Colliery Underground Expansion Project by 8 December 2015.
Simply cut and paste this message below, add a personal message and send on to [email protected]. What to say in your submission:
I am writing to object to Wollongong Coal's proposal to expand their Russell Vale Colliery. I object to this proposal for the following reasons:
- The mine will cause subsidence, cracking and water loss in Cataract River, Cataract and Bellambi Creeks, as well as water-storing swamps which are vital refuges in times of drought;
- Wollongong Coal is proposing to use risky new mining methods to extract a third seam of coal beneath two previously mined seams, placing our catchment at great risk;
- Modelling by the mine’s own consultant estimates the proposed mining could result in surface water baseflow loss of up to 7.3 ML per day - the equivalent of the average daily water consumption for 24,580 people;
- A staggering 360,000 tonnes of coal would be stockpiled in a mountain 33 metres high – the height of an 11 story building. This massive stockpile would be located just 225m from people’s homes and 500m from a pre-school.
You can read more about the project by the Illawarra Residents for Responsible Mining online.
