Month: September 2018

Whitehaven Coal, the mining company chaired by former Nationals politician and Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile, has attempted to hose down the expose by Lock the Gate which revealed massive diversion of surface water to the Maules Creek mine, taking water which would otherwise flow into groundwater or into creeks. North West Protection Advocacy provided a commentary on the water regulation chaos at the Maules Creek coal mine, demonstrating that surface water irregularities are only one of a number of serious problems there. In its defence, the company has pleaded that it is…continue reading →

ABC News (see video below) has revealed claims that the Maules Creek coal mine is harvesting vastly more surface water than it is permitted to do under its Approval Conditions. Maules Creek farmers say the mine is capturing 1,800 million litres rather than the approved 30 million litres of surface water, sixty times the allowable amount. According to the ABC, the company is relying on an exemption in the Water Management Regulation 2011. One of the exemptions relates to dirty water, which is water that is collected from mining areas. It does not require a water access licence because the water could be contaminated.   https://youtu.be/WBBJdhPkxlY Other water management problems at Maules Creek…continue reading →