Dendrobium Mine Extension Project

I am expressing my opposition to the project as a resident of Mount Kembla. I am not commenting on the larger picture of fossil fuel or water catchment damage. My points are

If I drive with a uncovered load on my trailer i will get fined
If I work for the mine and drive 20 x 2000 ton train loads three time a day with no cover, it is OK ?

If I was to develop a duplex off Cordeaux Road ( the only road) council would look at traffic and if it is complying
If I want to put in a coal mine and add a 120 car parking off Cordeaux Road in addition to the already existing area parking and resultant 1000 odd traffic movements a day it is OK?

If i make noise at night I would be fined and if continued to do such would wind up in Jail
If a mine operates 24 hours a day and wakes people continuously is it OK?

My point is the double standards. There has been no consultation with the community. There has been millions of dollars spent by South32 on telling us how good for us the coal mining is. They have been trying to suggest it is necessary for the steel works but seams to me the steelworks only consume a small percentage of the coal produced and as per this request for extension and increase in production the mine will double output for the export market.

This is just business for the mine, exploitation of resources for profit. Business will minimise costs and maximise profit if allowed. Should not a percentage be returned to the community most impacted by its operation?
If it must proceed can the impact to the local population be minimised by:
1 Paying the rates of the Mount Kembla residents
2 Operation two shifts per day and allowing 8 hours rest for the residents
3 Putting in an access road along the train corridor, avoiding the trucks and massive amount of traffic through the middle of the village past the primary school up the steep winding hill and past the pub and the church?
4 Increase the contribution to the local community funds from a cent per ton to a dollar per ton, a hundred fold increase

I believe this is reasonable, a rough estimate, but does the mine not dig out of the mine $7.5 billion a year at todays coal value ? A return to the community it impacts, in terms or air pollution, noise pollution, traffic pollution and water pollution apart from general degradation of the quality of the lives of the resident surrounding it does not seam at all unrealistic.

In conclusion I believe if the minister decides he must approve the plan he must take into account those whom it will impact the most, at present they are not considered.

I support the project, it is a huge part of the Illawarra economy, thousands of jobs direct and indirect. Without Dendrobium thousands of people will suffer financially from big to small business to everyday workers.

I am one of hundreds of people employed because of dendrobium mine. I am supporting a young family and the proposed extension would ensure longevity of my job and allow us to continue with keeping up with the ongoing challenges life brings.

I strongly support the approval of the project. South 32 and the mine support the local community economically and socially. South 32 is a huge employer in the area, both directly and indirectly, and not approving the project would be catastrophic for many businesses and families of the Illawarra.
South 32 has made positive changes to their mine plan, and have taken on feedback given to them by various departments to minimise any environmental and/or cultural impact.

This proposal should be rejected on the grounds that longwall mining creates cracks in riverbeds that introduce heavy metals to the water, and in this location the mine will pose significant risks to the Sydney catchment drinking water, as previously established by the IPC. The threat to the drinking water of millions of people should be enough reason to halt it.
There is also evidence that the extension will damage local biodiversity, including koala populations, but that these populations and the impact on them has not been adequately assessed through the EIS. An independent and transparent assessment should be conducted.
I also object to the contribution that the mining, export and burning of additional coal will make to rising carbon emissions, contributing the climate crisis.
This is bad planning and the IPC has already rejected it on the grounds that the drawbacks for community, water and environment outweigh any limited benefits. It should not be swept through as an ISS, but transparently assessed through normal mechanisms. That process should ensure it is refused.

The proposal to mine coal under sensitive water catchment land flies in the face of common sense. This proposal has already been rightly rejected by the Independent Planning Commission and should never have been allowed to reapply.

Coal mining is a dying industry and our community deserves better than to be tied to ageing industries. Despite claims that metallurgical coal is needed for steel making, the steel industry is already transitioning to more environmentally sustainable methods. Approval of this project means we will be stuck with an increasingly uneconomical piece of infrastructure that threatens valuable water resources but with minimal benefit.

This project should never have been declared State Significant Infrastructure. If fact, the grounds for this declaration are flawed. Bluescope Steel has already publicly announced that they have adequate future supplies of metallurgical coal for future operations. Furthermore, the company is already examining how to transition away from burning coal to make steel.

The most significant objection I have to this proposal is that it involves longwall mining under a drinking water catchment. In Australia, drinking water is a rare and precious resource. As climate change intensifies we are likely to experience intensified cycles of drought and flooding, much as we have experienced in the past few years. In periods of drought, our drinking water catchment is a lifeline for our most populous city - Sydney - and for the Illawarra region. Protecting this resource is the most important duty of our government and citizens. WaterNSW has already made its objections to mining under the catchment clear. Mining causes subsidence which affects the waterways and swamps that feed the catchment. It is likely that South32 have under-estimated the extent of subsidence that can be expected from longwall mining.

I am also concerned about the ongoing damage to Aboriginal heritage in the water catchment caused by mining. No further damage should be countenanced to the 31 Aboriginal Heritage sites that are located in or nearby Area 5. Local Aboriginal people have already made their concerns about mining expansion clear. After centuries of unrelenting violence and dispossession, it is time that governmental authorities listened to local Aboriginal people and showed respect for their culture. Monitoring is not good enough and will not prevent damage from being done in the first place.

I strongly object to the South32 proposal for mining expansion under our water catchment.

I am against.

I just cannot understand why a mine needs to be extended, when so many reports indicate coal mining is thankfully being phased out for environmental reasons.

The initial application to extend the mine was refused and I trust the Planning Minister will refuse this application. Our drinking water, biodiversity and our climate must all be held to be more important than mining!

I am against.

Why on earth do we need an existing coal mine to be expanded, when a previous application to do this has been very rationally refused!

The potential for enormous damage to our tourism industry, property values, water table and water catchment areas, biodiversity, climate change, noise and air pollution all concern me.

I support this project. The mine footprint has been significantly reduced to mitigate longwall subsidence on the catchment area; which will ensure water resources are not impacted.

The continuation of coal mining at Dendrobium Mine will;
1. Sustain the needs of the steel manufacturing industry in Wollongong.
2. Maintain jobs at both Dendrobium Mine, and at BlueScope Steel.
3. Maintain jobs in many industries that occur down the chain of critical mining/manufacturing.

If these industries don't continue, Australia will still need the same amount of steel (which will come from overseas). How close to carbon-neutral is that considering the iron ore is mined in Australia anyway, then shipped twice to end up with the same result?

I recognise the need to decarbonise, but shutting down these critical industries before a viable alternative to metallurgical coal in the steel-making process is found will only delay this effort.

Find attached a submission is support of the project from Business Illawarra.

I find it remarkable that a proposal for mining of any sort under our drinking water catchments can even be considered. All our dams have strict entry prohibitions to keep the catchments clean and unspoilt, yet consideration is being given to mining which has the potential to irrevocably damage the ecosystem and catchment? This is simply craziness of the highest order and I strenuously object to this project.

This is a highly contentious development, and rightly so. First, it is known that the subsidence under long wall coal mines is very damaging, not just to homes, but also to natural structures, such as river beds (e.g. the cracks in the base of the Tahmoor River). Secondly, coal mines need to be wound back, not expanded, to limit the emission of carbon, not just from the mining itself, but from the end use of the coal as a fossil fuel.

I fully Support the project. The recent changes to the extension, address the key environmental issues. It also helps secure the economic future of the Illawarra region.

Please see attached.

Please see my submission in the attachment.

We do not need more coal.
We do need more and ever-expanding sources of fresh water to quench the requirements of this ever expanding population on this ever drier land.
We must not value the short term financial gain over the longer term societal loss of water sources.

When kerosene replaced whale oil I'm sure there were some ship/fleet owners who objected to the obsolescence of whaling, in 2022 as Australia recovers from one of the worst years of extreme weather events made a million times worse by the current climate crisis we find ourselves in directly linked to the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels. This issue however is not more important than the effects this project has and will continue to have on local air quality and the destruction of First nations cultural sites. The expansion of this carcinogenic eye sore would only contribute to the continued erosion of quality of life for the people of the Illawarra. The local community's access to clean and safe drinking water should not be imperiled for the benefit of a small number of share holders in an industry that was on its way out 5 years ago.

Andy Hubscher,
47 Highlands Parade, Bulli
NSW 2516
Re :- Dendrobium Mine Extension Project (SSI-33143123)
Introduction
I have been a resident of the North Illawarra region for nearly 70 years and I am passionate about the environment our region, specifically the Illawarra Escarpment and the land behind this.
I was involved in the underground coal mining industry for 41 years. I started my working career as a Mine Surveyor trainee at Nebo Colliery (now Dendrobium Colliery). During this period I was involved with mine subsidence surveys at Nebo and Corrimal Collieries. This also included close monitoring of surface features such as steep cliffs, minor and major waterways, surface swamps (also known as hanging swamps) and sites where volcanic activity was present at the surface. It also included the No.1 Cordeaux Dam and its high water mark, high tension power lines, major highways, gas pipelines and colliery infrastructure. Later in my career I was assigned to prepare longwall applications for Cordeaux Colliery. In the interim period I held the position of Undermanager at various mines.
I am at present Chairman, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Mineral Heritage Sub-Committee, Illawarra Branch.

I SUPPORT the approval of the Dendrobium Mine Extension Project Based on the following reasons :-
1) In my opinion the geometry of the proposed layout is conservative and potential impacts on the “Metropolitan Space Area” have been greatly reduced. The prediction of mine subsidence outcomes has evolved to become very accurate in the last 40 years and the experts can be trusted. South 32 has been very successful in applying a wide range of strategies to manage critical features, including Aboriginal Heritage sites, within the environment and I am confident they are well placed to continue.

2) The supply of Dendrobium Coal to the Port Kembla Steelworks is critical to the production of world class carbon iron and steel in the long term. The closeness of the Steelworks to the supply of quality metallurgical coal gives it a competitive advantage to stay in business. The options of alternative supply of an inferior product from elsewhere or premature closure of the Steelworks would be disastrous for the region & nation. As a long-term resident of the Illawarra I am fully aware and appreciative of the economic and social importance of steel, coal and the supporting businesses. The production of “Green Steel” without metallurgical coal is still not viable for the foreseeable future.

3) Any suggestions that the Sydney Drinking Water Supply will be impacted are FALSE. The Inquiry by Justice R.G. Reynolds in the 1970s on “Coal Mining under or in the Vicinity of Stored Waters” concluded that mining could be carried out “without endangering the security of stored waters if mining is carried out with proper safeguards”. Over 50 years of scientific refinement have strengthened the safeguards which have been applied to this project. Dendrobium has been mining for years without impact on Sydney Drinking Water.

4) The use of existing surface infrastructure means the project can proceed without detrimental impact on the residents and communities around the mine.

5) South32 has proved itself to be a Responsible Corporate Citizen. The mine is well equipped to manage the Mine Extension Project.

Yours Faithfully

Andy Hubscher, MAusIMM.
Mine Surveyor, Mine Undermanager - Retired

This submission is of four parts: comments of a general nature including water catchment integrity, Aboriginal heritage, greenhouse gas emissions reservation of coal resources to support steel making in Australia; the potential impact on the proposed Maldon Dombarton rail link; and, that relating to the rail transport of coal and road haulage of coal waste. Please see attached submission.
The matter is considered to be appropriate for an Independent Planning Commission.

The project will create 100 project construction jobs and 50 new operational roles and secure the ongoing training employment of 650 people at Dendrobium Mine.
Compared to the previous application, the project has a 60% reduction in the longwall mine area preserving the water catchment