Tiny village of Wollar fights miner

Their tiny village on the road between Denman and Mudgee – or what remains of it – is close to three open-cut coalmines. They’re fighting the latest expansion plans of the closest mine, Peabody Energy’s Wilpinjong mine, which supplies coal to Bayswater power station at Muswellbrook under a 19-year contract. 

It is the sixth mine modification proposal since Wilpinjong was approved in 2006, with the fifth modification only approved in February this year. Coal production will have nearly doubled in that time if the latest modification is approved, and Wollar residents have had enough.

‘‘This community and the environment of this area are directly wearing the costs of this mine, which provides cheap coal to Bayswater, for the benefit of the rest of the state,’’ said Wollar resident Bev Smiles.

‘‘We’re the collateral damage, and there’s nothing in the current planning and decision-making process that reflects that.’’

Peabody Energy proposes to increase production by one million tonnes of coal per year, and the amount of stockpiled coal on site. The increase was needed ‘‘to provide operational flexibility to maintain Wilpinjong’s competitive advantage as a low-cost thermal coal producer’’, and would ‘‘improve the financial position of the mine in the current market downturn’’, Peabody said in its current application before the NSW Department of Planning.

But spontaneous combustion of stockpiled coal, Peabody’s ‘‘aggressive’’ land purchase strategy to reduce noise and odour complaints from surrounding areas, the ‘‘unacceptable’’ use of industrial noise standards in a tiny rural area, and other issues left Mid-Western Regional Council expressing ‘‘real concerns about Wollar’s future existence’’, in a submission to the department last week.

The NSW Nature Conservation Council also had serious concerns about Peabody Energy’s modification proposal.

It was unacceptable to increase extraction and stockpiling coal at Wilpinjong while uncontrolled spontaneous combustion continued to occur; Peabody had not yet produced plans to manage noise, dust and blasting from its February expansion approval; and the ‘‘very poor quality of the coal’’ left significant issues that were not being addressed, Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski said.

‘‘This proposal is requesting a greater trade-off of social and environmental impacts to maintain the viability of a very marginal operation,’’ Ms Smolski said.

Wollar had lost its churches and rural fire service, about 70 per cent of land was now owned by Peabody, the school was on borrowed time, and the incremental impact of increased noise, dust and blasting was not assessed, Wollar Progress Association said in its submission.

THE NSW Environment Protection Authority has not objected to expansion of Wilpinjong coalmine despite the mine using outdated practices to manage ongoing problems with spontaneous combustion of stockpiled coal.

The mine received 20complaints from Wollar residents about smoke and odours from uncontrolled fires in stockpiled coal during monitoring between March and June last year. Some of the complaints coincided with higher concentrations of compounds produced by spontaneous combustion coal fires, a monitoring report found.

In a submission last week to the Department of Planning, which is considering the sixth expansion of Wilpinjong mine, the EPA noted that Wilpinjong’s owner, Peabody Energy, had not reviewed its spontaneous combustion management plan since the mine’s approval in 2006, despite proposed production almost doubling in that time.

A new review, required within six months if the current expansion plans are approved, should consider ‘‘the suitability of existing management techniques versus current industry best practice’’, the EPA said.

But Mid-Western Regional Council said there should be no further increases in the potential for spontaneous combustion until proposed test work had been carried out.

Wollar resident Bev Smiles said the mine was required to ensure that no offensive odours were emitted from the site, but offensive odours from the spontaneous combustion of coal had been a serious issue for a number of years.

‘‘There have been times where the mine has looked like it’s been on fire and everyone has been worried about the health impacts of uncontrolled spontaneous combustion burns, but when people complain, nothing much happens,’’ Ms Smiles said.

‘‘The mining industry talks about being the most regulated in the country but there’s no point having regulations if the regulator won’t hold mines to account.’’

A spokeswoman for Peabody Energy said the company had a period of time to respond to issues raised in submissions and would not comment before it responded.