Sydney Water award angers environment group

BY JEREMY BROWN
Critics have questioned the choice of BHP Billiton’s Dendrobium Coal mine near Wollongong as the winner of the Largest Volume Reduction award (drinking water) category in the recent annual Sydney Water Environmental ‘Every Drop Counts’ awards.

The mine won the award by saving 230 kL/day (or about one tenth of an Olympic pool) by the use of local recycling and water harvesting.

But records of water pollution licence breaches on the Environment Protection Authority’s public register show that this mine ranks third worst out of 81 coal industry facilities across the state.

Apparently the mine’s excavations under the massive plateau behind the Illawarra escarpment have created cracks near the water catchment reservoirs which serve both Sydney and the South Coast.

“This is the mine whose longwall mining last year opened up deep metre-wide cracks in the rainforest floor within very close proximity to a major Sydney water supply dam. It has massive expansion plans further into the catchment area. Environmental controversy has dogged this mine,” said Total Environment Centre Director Jeff Angel.

‘A basic principle for any environmental award should be that the company is complying with all environmental criteria. Sydney Water has done its award program a great disservice and its credibility is in question as a result of the selection of this mine for the prize, ‘ he continued.

Last year another BHP Billiton mine at Appin won an ‘Every Drop Counts’ award despite having been penalised earlier for cracking the bed of the Upper Cataract River and causing noxious methane emissions.

‘Sydney Water should review its criteria to include strict compliance with licence conditions and environmental guidelines because the coal industry will use this award to try and hide the disastrous environmental effects mining is having on the water supply catchments,” Mr Angel concluded.

For more information see http://www.tec.org.au