Santos’ contractors, Anderson Environmental & Planning (AEP) of Newcastle, have been conducting “scouting, sampling and survey” work inside the Pilliga Forest under a Forest Permit issued by NSW Forestry Corporation for the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline Survey. The permit—clearly visible on a contractor’s vehicle parked at Smithers Gate, the eastern entry to the forest—appears linked to … Read more
Wando Conservation & Cultural Centre Inc would like to take this opportunity to thank all the speakers, attendees and volunteers. The conference revealed major issues in the Biodiversity Offsets space and was well attended. An incredible amount of information is contained in the videos and slideshows and we hope that they answer any questions you … Read more
Whitehaven Coal’s scheme to reduce coal royalty payments has been disclosed in a three-day hearing before Justice David Hammerschlag, Chief Judge in Equity of the NSW Supreme Court. It was revealed that for years Whitehaven used the small Canyon Mine near Gunnedah, which was closed and has not produced coal since 2008, to generate fictitious … Read more
This week (Thursday, 31st October), the day after Whitehaven Coal’s 2024 Annual General Meeting, the company’s lawyers are set to make sentencing pleas in relation to four recent convictions in the blasting case that caused workers at Idemitsu’s Boggabri Coal mine to be sent to hospital. Typically this would see the company argue for clemency … Read more
The long-awaited judgment in NSW Environment Protection Authority’s prosecution of Maules Creek Coal mine blast, which caused the nearby Boggabri Coal mine to evacuate workers in the path of horrendous shockwaves and a wall of dust and fumes, has been delivered by Justice Sarah Pritchard of the NSW Land and Environment Court. 896,256kg (or around … Read more
Covering the case: Sydney Knitting Nannas Regional communities thank the Sydney Knitting Nannas for their reportage of the Maules Creek Coal prosecution. Keeping vigil and observing the witnesses and legal argument, Sydney Knitting Nannas have become the modern-day “tricoteuses”, a reference to women who knitted while they observed the revolutionary trials and guillotining during the … Read more
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has rejected an appeal by Whitehaven’s Maules Creek Coal mine to interrupt and derail a series of four blasting prosecutions, based on accusations of “apprehended bias” of Justice Sarah Pritchard who has been presiding over the cases since February 2023. As reported by ABC New England & North West: … Read more
Feature image supplied: Steven O’Donoghue, Director of Resource Assessments, spruiked the now-failing Vickery Coal mine at a public meeting, Boggabri, 2017. A Scoping Paper addressed to Stephen O’Donoghue, the Director or Resource Assessments, NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) on 5th July 2023, contains material omissions in relation to a matter of significant heritage … Read more
When Whitehaven Coal recently faced serious criminal charges brought by the NSW EPA in a NSW Land and Environment Court trial, observers expected the Namoi region’s worst polluter to plead guilty and cop a fine. That is what Whitehaven did when its Narrabri underground mine was prosecuted in 2020 for 19 charges of causing significant … Read more
1 Introduction North West Protection Advocacy is based in Coonabarabran, New South Wales. We are a community group that conducts research and advocacy in relation to environmental impacts of hazardous industries in north-west New South Wales, particularly concerning the impacts of fossil extraction, transportation and production on forests, water and farms. We object to the … Read more