A Short History of Fracking in the Pilliga Forest

A Short History of Fracking in the Pilliga Forest

By Johanna Evans It’s the hour before sunrise in the Pilliga forest, it’s cool and the stars cover the forest like a blanket, it’s quiet mostly, the occasional truck belts down the Newell not seeing the scars left by gas company Eastern Star Gas and their cowboy fracker contractors who held no regard for the sacred Biliga. The Pilliga forest is the largest inland forest in New South Wales, an iconic Australian landscape offering rugged beauty on a grand scale, 3,000 km² of semi-arid woodland sits atop the recharge zone of the Great…continue reading →
Whitehaven Coal’s Planned New Mine at Boggabri

Whitehaven Coal’s Planned New Mine at Boggabri

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority has slammed many aspects of Whitehaven’s proposed Vickery mine. Having assessed the Vickery Environmental Impact Statement, the regulator believes the air emissions inventory is not transparent and there is not enough information provided. Cumulative noise impacts from surrounding coal mines are not correctly assessed. The EPA has also called on the company to review the rail noise impact assessment and criticised Whitehaven for failing to take into account worst case climatic conditions. Additionally, the EPA stated in relation to the “final void”, the unfilled mine pit Whitehaven Coal…continue reading →

Western Downs Council NuGrow Approval for the Kogan facility

  NuGrow is one of Australia’s leading full service recycling and re-vegetation innovators. Here is their approval from local government and their Site Based Management Plan. According to the NuGrow website: "NuGrow’s Kogan facility primarily accepts green waste, CSG muds and fluids, food waste, effluent, bio solids and manures. These are recycled into land additives or NuGrow’s high-grade compost." Click to download: ECM_3034179_v2_Approval Negotiated Decision Notice Development Apcontinue reading →

Whitehaven Coal attempts to hose down Lock the Gate water claims

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 →

Excess water harvesting claims point to chaotic regulation at Maules Creek mine

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 →

Whitehaven AGM statements reverberate on the eve of Vickery mine public exhibition

Statements made by Whitehaven Coal CEO Paul Flynn at the October 2017 Annual General Meeting are causing shock waves in the Narrabri area at a time when the company can least afford it - just as the company’s Environmental Assessment for the Vickery megamine is being prepared for exhibition. The statements by the CEO in response to a question from a shareholder seeking to know why the risk level of the Maules Creek mine was reclassified as Level 3, and if the licence risk downgrade had been disclosed to Whitehaven’s financial backers. The…continue reading →