Helensburgh & District News

April 2007 - Vol.17 No.3

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By David Roche

Hot on the heels of the climate debate, the local coal industry has again come under fire for its environmental impact, in this case for its effect on local waterways.
The Australian Greens and several environmental groups have called for immediate controls on longwall coal mining, including imposition of one kilometre buffer zones around all rivers.
The call follows substantial damage to the Waratah Rivulet, which is located just to the west of Helensburgh and flows into the Woronora Dam. Along with its tributaries, the waterway once made up about 29% of the catchment of the Dam, which provides both the Sutherland Shire and Helensburgh with drinking water.
According to Dave Burgess of the Total Environment Centre, the riverbed is cracked in hundreds of places and drained to a point where it now runs dry.
“While other rivers and streams in the area are running well, the Waratah Rivulet is bone dry for nearly 2km of its length,” he said.
In 1999, the Healthy Rivers Commission described the condition of the Woronora catchment upstream of the dam as “largely pristine”.
Waratah Rivulet has been subjected to intensive longwall coal mining over the last three years from Helensburgh’s Metropolitan Colliery, destroying the stream’s ability to effectively collect and transmit water. Operations in the area are ongoing.
The sitting member and Labor candidate for Heathcote in the recent State election, Paul Macleay, has rejected the Green’s call for buffer zones, describing them as a “backdoor way of closing down the whole Southern coalfields.”
However, he concedes there is a major problem.
“Water loss in Waratah Rivulet caused by longwall mining has clearly had adverse impacts on the local ecosystem,” he said.
“This is unacceptable and the company has to fully repair the damage to Waratah Rivulet to a standard acceptable to the community and the Sydney Catchment Authority. Nothing less is acceptable,” he added.
According to General Manager of Peabody Pacific, Peter Doyle, the mine is working with the Sydney catchment Authority (SCA) on a solution.
“We have already implemented a number of measures while we design a permanent remeditation program with the SCA and Department of Primary Industries. Extensive monitoring has shown that cracks in the stream bed of the Waratah Rivulet are localised and do not affect the quality or quantity of the water entering the Woronora Dam”, Peter said.
Jill Merrin, the Greens candidate for Heathcote, disagrees with the company’s assessment of the effects on the dam.
“Mining is not allowed underneath vital transport infrastructure such as roads, because of the risk of damage, but is still approved beneath our precious water supply rivers. The residents of Helensburgh and the Sutherland Shire who depend on water from the Woronora Reservoir would be shocked at the damage being caused to their local water supply”, Jill said.