Georges River Macarthur - Longwall Mining - Sydney Catchments

Macarthur Bushwalkers submission

Sydney’s Disappearing Water Supply - Georges River runs dry

BHP BILLITON’S SUBSIDENCE MANAGEMENT PLAN APPLICATION FOR

APPIN COLLIERY LONGWALLS 301A TO 302

Saturday, 20 February 2010

During the month of January 2010 Macarthur Bushwalkers discovered that O'Hares Creek, the last remaining water supply to Georges River from the Woronora Catchment had run dry despite the wettest summer for several years.

Macarthur Bushwalkers have now recorded the same results on two occasions, once on 14 April 2009 and 30 January 2010. On Saturday 27 February we found almost no water flowing over the waterfall at Maddons Plains (the source O'Hares Creek) yet again the waterfall at The Basin Kently was almost dry.

In the southern part of the upper catchment we have a healthy, lush Loddon Creek flowing into Cataract Dam

The Woronora catchment supplies drinking water to Sydney via the Nepean, Cataract, Woronora rivers. Another source to run dry as a result of longwall mining is the Waratah Rivulet which is also in a similar condition with massive damage to its river bed. The Waratah Rivulet supplied water to the Woronora Dam.

The discovery came as a complete surprise to the Macarthur Bushwalkers. In effect Georges River had no water supply from its 100 square kilometre catchment starting at Maddens Plains near Bulli north of Wollongong to The Basin at Kentlyn, a suburb of Campbelltown. This could bethe beginning of a major environmental disaster affecting Sydney, the Sutherland Shire and the Illawarra's water supply.

Research now shows that there are now 20 recorded cases of the Cataract River running dry which can be attributed to drought and longwall mining. The Waratah Rivulet is reported as being a rain only river now. Georges River now appears to be in the same catergory.

A description of Project Georges River with accompanying photographs can be downloaded or viewed by using theMacBUG_Submission link

BHP Billiton is currently requesting permission for an ambitious project lasting 30 years and creating 3000 jobs in the region.
We say that the damage to the region by longwall mining is too much already. Part of the BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal project is to yet again mine under O'Hares Creek . Plus areas close to and affecting the Nepean River near Menangle which supplies water to Warragamba Dam. We already have mining under other dams in the Sydney catchment.

Major man made encironmental disaster

Our incompetent state government who should have protected the drinking water supplies in Sydney instead of colluding with the mining industry for the last 20 years to bring about this major impending environmental disaster.

The Macarthur Bushwalkers submissions in opposotion to the BulliCoal Seam project are attached to this website and can be downloaded using the following links. Items 3 & 4 are updated versions of items 1 & 2 and contain photographs up to and including Saturday 27 February 2010.

1. MacBUG_Submission_5.97MB
2. MacBUG_Submission photographs_1.15MB
3. BHP Bulli Coal Seam 3 March 2010_5.97MB
4. BHP Bulli Coal Seam Dept Planning NSW March 2010 photographs_5.83MB

Governments and politicians respond to communities not small groups. With our global warming issues we must now tell the State and Federal governments that coal is not more important than water. Do it now before BHP Billiton receives authorisation to commit even greater damage to the Sydney water supply!

Bulli Seam Project update - BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal has spent nearly $1 million in five years on grants to diverse community groups. - Macarthur Bushwalkers attended a meeting in Penrith Council offices November 2009. The community had come together to discuss high salinity and the affects of pollution on growers and businesses along the Nepean River. My question - "what is council doing about the damage caused by longwall mining". There was stunned silence and many puzzled expressions. The locals simply weren't aware of the activities of the mining companies in the catchment area upstream.

Snippets of history of the Georges River

The Georges River covers an area of 720 sq km and has many beautiful wilderness areas. Originaly known by the Aboriginal name Toggerai or Tuggerah Creek. The Georges River has its source to the south of Appin. The swamps of Maddens plains act like a sponge soaking up rainwater which is then released into O'Hares Creek and its tributories before flowing into Georges River.

O'Hares Creek contributes about 70% of the frshwater that flows along Georges River to the sea. Both these streams start in an infinite number of swamps and creeks and flow 96 km downhill to enter Botany Bay. O'Hares Creek flows through some rugged landscape including a wide 6 kilometre long canyon of deep clear water, to its junction with the narrow muddy trickle of water, the Georges River, at the Woolwash.

Grist mills - Journal of Campbelltown and Airds historical Society Inc Vol. 16 No.1 March 2003 - Historical Society

Georges River December to July 2009

Some of the drinking water earmarked for the town of Appin is released into the Cataract River from Cataract Dam to help maintain a flow in the rivers of the catchment and help sustain life in the ecosystems - Sunday 26 July 09.

Misinformation, wrong impressions, environmental responsibility, mining company decisions - BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal

1. "there's a lot of misinformation being put out in the community, which is giving people, potentially, the wrong impression".
2. "People aren't getting a balanced view. They're not understanding what decisions are being made by mining companies around their environmental responsibilities."

Mr. John Brannon - General Manager of Sustainable Development and External Affairs BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal

Mr Brannon is inferring that the mining companies are being unfairly treated - see page BHP misinformation.

Georges River longwall mining research

We decided to see for ourselves. Macarthur Bushwalkers is a bushwalking group with an interest in the environment and a passion for the areas we walk in. One of those areas is our own Georges River, a river very much underrated by those who do not know it. It is also a river whose water levels have dropped considerably since the early 80's to the point where we are now seeing little water particularly during the wet season.

The mining industry has previously blamed drought conditions for this reduction in water levels of our rivers.

Aware of the opposition to mining by many Green groups throughout NSW, we decided to check out BHP Billiton Illawarra Coals claims of - "misinformation, lack of understanding, not having a balanced view" and so on by those groups.

Our project started in January 2009. Our goal was to establish monitoring locations throughout the Geoges River catchment. Our intention is to use these locations to photograph the river at different times of the year and throughout the seasons including times of drought and constant rain.

We felt that it would benefit the community to have a record of the river as global warming continues.

Monitoring locations:

We have identified and established seven locations from The Basin at Kentlyn to the distant location (location 7) near Darkes Forest on the upper reaches of O'Hares Creek in the Georges River Upper Catchment. The most important location is The Basin at Kentlyn. Here the flow from all major sources - O'Hares, Stokes, Maddens and Punchbowl Creeks plus the water from the swamps of the upper catchment can be observed and photographed.

Location 1. The Basin on Georges River at Kentlyn (banner photograph taken during drought early 2009)
Georges River - The Basin

Location 2. The Cause way at Wedderburn Gorge Wedderburn Gorge

Location 3. The Woolwash, junction of Georges River and O'Hares Creek
Woolwash

Location 4. The water guage upstream of location 3 on O'Hares Creek Wedderburn
O'Hare - Wedderburn

Location 5. The water guage upstream of O'Hares Creek / Stokes Creek junction Wedderburn
Stokes Creek - Wedderburn

Location 6. Iluka Swamp in the Dharawal State Recreation Area
Iluka Swamp

Location 7. River crossing downstream of Iluka Creek on O'Hares Creek
O'Hare - Iluka Creek

Georges River has two sources:

1. Woronora Plateau - Water flows down Maddens Creek near Bulli Tops into O'Hares Creek draining additional water from the the Iluka Swamps via Iluka Creek. The volume increases as the river flows toward Campbelltown. The gorges become deeper and difficult to negotiate but the views are extremely pretty. There is an abundance of animal life as can be seen from the tracks left in the sandy areas. O'Hares Creek flows on until it reaches Wedderburn and merges with Stokes Creek before finally meeting Georges River at the Woolwash between Minto and Wedderburn. (Location 3 photograph)
2. Starts near the Cataract Scout camp off Appin road near Cataract Dam. It starts in the restricted area south of Appin, crosses under Appin road meanders around the back of Appin passing through Myrnes Hole and carries on its way past Wedderburn, through Wedderburn Gorge along the back of Minto and meets O'Hares Creek at the Woolwash.

The Woolwash is an important monitoring point in our project, here we can see the water flowing from both tributories of the catchment as they enter the main Georges River.

The river has now widens and takes on the appearance of a full size river. We see all manner of flora, fauna and spectacular scenery with stalactite like rock formations caused by water seepage. Bright green pythons, water dragons, red bellied black snakes, wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, sulphur crested cockatoos, yellow tailed black cockatoos, gang gang cockatoos, honey eaters, the list is endless.

One comes across groves of grass trees and gymea lillies where one walks through huge strap like plants, their deep red flowers as big as cabbages on stalks 5 to 6 metres high which tower overhead.

At Kentlyn the river flows over a water fall at The Basin turns left towards Liverpool and meets Punchbowl Creek at this same location. Here ALL the rivers sources meet, we should see a healthy vibrant river.

Please take a long look at the banner top of this page, this is typical of many of the locations we have visited throughout 2009.

Georges River impressions

We have spent much of 2009 photographing and observing the river at The Basin, Wedderburn Gorge, O'Hares Creek and its junction with Georges River and Stokes Creek.

The weekend of the 26 July we ventured into the swamps around Iluka Creek in the Dharawal State Recreation Area establishing our final monitoring point out near Darkes Forest. This location is at a river crossing downstream of the Iluka Creek - O'Hares Creek junction, a stunning spot.

Our monitoring points cover the entire catchment area and allowing us to observe how much water is coming from where. We were dismayed to discover that during and immediately after heavy rains the water levels were low and quickly disappeared.

Google Mining research - longwall mining damage - environmental damage BHP Billiton

We felt the need to learn about the mining industries attitudes, methods and techniques when dealing with communities. It was also important to discover where possible the benefits they provided to those same communities.

Simply by utilising the terms longwall mining damage - environmental damage BHP Billiton we unearthed a shocking history of disasters, atrocities, pollution and total disregard for people and governments world wide.

Google and the internet made it easy for us to access information about mining, environnmental disasters and their long term affects on the people and the countries they operate in. There was a tremendous amount of information available from the US which we we have used to create a background for this website. Why reinvent the wheel?

The Americans have been exposed to bad mining practices on a grand scale for 150 years. We will and are already experiencing the consequences of similar bad mining practices here. UK and Europe has also had its share of issues with mining. It seems the countries of operation change but the companies are the same.

We also discovered that communities affected by the mining industries activities are strongly reacting. They are publishing the effects of mining on their websites. The BHP Billiton Annual General Meeting report (below) is fascinating but horrifying reading.

• mining misinformation
• mining - broken promises

BHP Billiton Annual General Meeting

Of particular interest is the following accusations of BHP Billition by its own shareholders of the companies activities and policies - mining misinformation:

• environmental record in the Philippines, Indonesia, Guatemala and Colombia.
• its failure to listen to complaints.
• its failure to answer many detailed questions with anything more than vague generalities.
• failure to admit that consultation processes in many countries are affected by corruption and intimidation.
• blank denial, without evidence, of informed and well-documented criticism.
• its failure to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• its role in worsening climate change
• activities in producing a radioactive legacy for future generations

Longwall mining research results read like a novel

The picture these searches paint isn't pretty. You can now assess for yourselves how governents have cooperated with mining companies to the detriment of their voters (you). Successive Australian governments past and present at both Federal and State level are guilty of this cooperation. The Bob Carr lead NSW government to the present day Kristine Keneally government seem to have given the mining companies a blank cheque with our environment leaving the people and future generations to pick up the tab.

The following Longwall mining links lead to reports, submissions and news items which address the environmental damage blamed on the mining industry here and overseas.

We have compiled page after page documenting mining companies activites from Chile, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Bay of Bengal, West papua, .

Closer to home we have the Barrow Island of the West Australian coast and South Australia with its mining pollution and criminal use if water. We have Southern Coalfields of NSW with Macarthur Region where the Georges Rivers water flow is now almost non-existent. Still in the Macarthur we have the Nepean River and Cataract Rivers, both part of the Sydney Catchment area (your drinking water).

Include the Waratah Rivulet feed to the Woronora Dam with its badly cracked river bed. Most of its water is now being replaced by a Kernel located water desalinationt plant costing $2 billion

We then move onto Newcastle, the Goulburn River, NSW Central Plains with its agriculture, the Illawarra and Blue Mountains. The list goes on.

We have come to realise that badly damaged houses, bridges, creeks, rivers, dams, water pollution, global warming, the very infrastructure of our society mean little to mining companies or the NSW Government.

It's important to know that this couldn't happen without the collusion of our mining politicians

Longwall Mining links

Georges River Macarthur

General longwall mining

• longwall mining process - damage, cause and effects
• backstow - mining subsidence - backstow reduces surface damage, our politicians don't legislate for it
• Cataract river - Cataract river during the seventies
• Georges river dieing - Georges river greatly reduced water levels
• Iluka Creek - Iluka Swamp - Iluka Creek, Iluka Swamp, Georges River catchment
• Macarthurs rivers - Bargo, Georges, Cataract rivers - Broughton Pass Dam, Marhnes Hole, Appin
• Mine subsidence - mine subsidence in the Upper Nepean river catchment
• Georges River photographs - photographs of 7 km downstream of Freres Crossing
• Stokes Creek Wedderburn - Stokes Creek, Wedderburn, Georges River, Campbelltown
• Wedderburn - Wedderburns rivers, creeks and properties
• Wedderburn gorge - Wedderburn gorge, Georges River catchment, environmental damage
• Woolwash - The Woolwash junction with O'Hares creek Wedderburn - Minto
• O'Hares - Iluka - Georges River, O'Hares Creek, Dharawal State Recreation Area, Iluka Creek, Iluka Swamp, Maddens Creek.
• O'Hares - Wedderburn - Georges River, O'Hares Creek, Campbelltown, Wedderburn.
• Dharawal State Recreation Area - Georges River, O'Hares Creek, Darkes Forest.

• broken promises - longwall mining - deceit, denial and broken promises
• Cost clean coal - Clean coal, is it too costly to consider
• Longwall Mining - Global Climate Change, letter to Kevin Rudd, Prime minister Australia
• The hidden costs of clean coal - The environmental and human disaster of longwall mining - Multimedia from The Center for Public Integrity Washington DC. Video filmed in the mine and the effects above ground.
• BHP Billiton environmental damage - BHP Billiton, Fly river, Ok Tedi river, copper mines, Irian Jaya, Barrow Island, deforestation Indonesia, environmental damage, longwall mining
• BHP Billiton misinformation - BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal - Rio Tinto misinformation and the publics wrong impression of mining
• Politicians and approvals - These politicians approve longwall mining licences which pollutes our atmosphere, damages our rivers, water catchments and your homes
• Mine subsidence - longwall mining and its impact on water resources
• When longwall mining comes to your town - When longwall mining comes to your town, your home is in the hands of the mining company- from the US and applies here in Australia

Film footage of longwall mining

Visit The hidden costs of clean coal - The environmental and human disaster of longwall mining - Multimedia from The Center for Public Integrity Washington DC. Video filmed within the mine then on the surface. .PDF Hidden disasters of longwall mining

Waratah Rivulet - When the Rivers Run Dry - Total Environment Centre - Sydney Water System - Another longwall mining casualty.

Mining Advocacy Network