Georges River - Wedderburn Gorge - Campbelltown - NSW

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
• 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

Location 2. The Wedderburn Gorge Causeway

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

The causeway was built in the early 08's after the old bridge was swept away by the Georges River flooding which it did on a regular basis. Two of the old supports still exist and can be seen on the left photograph marked by arrows. Those supports still exit today.

Red arrows indicate the general location of the old bridge supports*.

Wedderburn - March 09 to June 09

The following photographs of Wedderburn Gorge were taken as recently as 6 July 09 at Wedderburn near Cambelltown NSW.

21 June 09

Campbelltown and the region has been receiving regular rains for several months. In the past this amount of rain has resulted in flood conditions on Georges River.
The following photographs of the Wedderburn Gorge causeway were taken at the identical location as the two photographs depicted in the 70's and 90's above.
Georges River regularly flooded the road in the past cutting of the Wedderburn Community from Campbelltown. These floods which often coincided with the flooding of the causeway in the Royal National Park Audley near Sydney appear to be a thing of the past.

28 June 09

The volume of water passing through and under the causeway has changed little since the photographs were taken on the 21 June. Down stream of the causeway the volume of water appears to increase from the water entering the river from creeks. A classic example is Peter Meadows Creek at the bottom of the Old Ford Road which we visited on the 28 June and Punchbowl Creek at the Basin.

Quote Lee Rhiannon - Member of the NSW Legislative Council

BHP Billiton's Longwall mine commenced in 1999. Longwall mine2 is due for completion in 2004 and the effects are starting to be noticed, with cracks forming in the river bed.

For over a year, BHP Billiton engineers have pumped 1.5 - 2 megalitres of water per day back into the river system. 1.5 megalitre equals 1 Olympic swimming pool.

The water comes from the Appin town water supply, supplied by the Cataract Dam, and includes 1% recycled water from the Appin mine.

The water is pumped into a nearby dam and flows into the Georges River. The water is saline, causing problems for the Georges River ecosystem, similar to those suffered by the Cataract River due to long wall coal mining by BHP Billiton.

Loss of water from Georges River catchment

The photographs on this page show Georges River in the late seventies through to June 09. Twenty years later we are looking at a very sick river severely damaged by longwall mining activities. Seems we now have a seasonal river instead of an all year round healthy flow.

Mining companies in the past have stated that the reduced water flow was caused by the severe draught. Officially the draught is now over with Sydney water restrictions being lifted last week.

20+ kilometres of Georges River starting from the catchment area near the Cataract Scout Camp to O' Hares Creek near Minto.

In the long term what does this mean for the Macarthur area? Are other rivers going the same way?

Certainly the Cataract and the Nepean Rivers are already showing the effects of longwall mining so what does the future hold for Macarthurs beautiful rivers and the creatures that they sustain? We already have reports of Cox's River being poisoned by heavy metals.

The powers that be tell us that testing meets governmental guidelines, how reassuring. Just like standards, guidelines are developed using the latest information available at the time. Perhaps the guidelines need to be addressed and updated.

Don't forget that Cataract and Nepean rivers are part of the Sydney catchment and Sydneys water supply.

Will we will lose our Sulphur Crested Cockatoos which nest along the river in large numbers?

We also have Pythons, Red Bellied Black Snakes, Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos, Wallabies, Eastern Gray Kangaroos and Water Dragons to name a few species. We used to have Platypus but they have gone now. We do have the rare MacQuarie Perch but one wonders for how long.

NOTE:

1. Australian fauna is becoming extinct faster than in any other country in the world.
2. Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the world and the largest user per head of population.