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Cataract River during the 70's

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The following photographs attempt to give a comparison between the state of the Cataract River during the 1970's and September 2005 when the right column of photographs were taken. Cataract river is part of the Sydney water catchment area.
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.	gr_punchbowl_kentlyn - Punchbowl Creek at the Basin Georges River NSW 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
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.

1970 - 75	2005
BHP Billiton’s consultant on subsidence has said recently that these longwall mines will “possibly” crack the river. In an interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald, on 1.8.05, a BHP Billiton spokesperson said that the company could not guarantee not to crack the river bed.
1970 - 75	2005
Cracking will result in water loss and water pollution. This stretch of the upper Cataract is a conduit for Sydney’s and the Macarthur Region water supply – it channels water from Cataract dam to Broughtons Pass Weir from where it is pumped both to Prospect Reservoir and to the Macarthur Treatment Plant nearby. It is unacceptable to crack this river, especially at a time of growing water shortage.
1970 - 75	2005
In 1994 the Bargo river bed cracked. In 1996 the Cataract river bed cracked and the water disappeared, methane/ethane gas escaped and iron oxide bacterial pollution started. In 2000, Jutts Crossing on the Georges River at Appin cracked and the water in the rock pools disappeared.
1970 - 75	2005
In 2001, further up the Georges river cracked and rock falls were reported. In 2001 the Douglas Park bridge moved as a result of the mining. In 2001 the Broughton Pass Dam sustained cracking. In 2002 Marhnyes Hole in the Georges River cracked and water disappeared.
1970 - 75	2005
Mining has damaged not only the lower Cataract, the upper Georges, and the Bargo; but also Stokes Creek, Wongawilli Creek, Ousedale Creek and an unnamed creek near Appin Colliery.

1970 - 75	2005
Other smaller, perhaps intermittently flowing, streams and creeks are likely to have been affected, and some hanging swamps are likely to be lost in the new Dendrobium mines on the Cordeaux dam (according to Olsen Environmental Consulting, in their submission to the Dendrobium COI).
1970 - 75	2005
The swamps act as water filters and are rich in biodiversity.(NSW Scientific Committee, p. 14<) They occur in the headwaters of O'Hares Creek and the Woronora River, also in major tributaries of the Nepean river.
1970 - 75	2005
Sydney's population is growing by more than 40,000 people each year. For the last 3 years our water consumption has exceeded our supply by 30 billion litres, or 5%. It seems worse than reckless to contemplate allowing further potential losses that could be so easily prevented.
1970 - 75	2005
For River SOS, it is unbelievable that at this time of a growing water supply crisis, the NSW State Government could approve of mine plans which threaten substantial water losses. But recently the government has approved the first workings at both these sites (i. e. the building of the underground access roads).
1970 - 75	2005
Once the company has invested time and money in the first workings, it becomes much more difficult for the government to deny approval for the second workings (i. e. the longwall mines themselves).

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