Modification 4 - Minor Extension to Barrett Pit

I object to this extension.

Camberwell is often the epicentre of hazardous air quality alerts in
the Upper Hunter. This current proposal, when it comes to air quality,
is fatally deficient in numerous respects, including (but not limited
to) failing to apply the latest EPA guidelines for the assessment of
air quality, failure to apply new National Environment Protection
(Ambient Air Quality) Measure standards and failure to identify the
cumulative impacts on air quality in the area.

The Camberwell community (what's left of it, at least) deserves better
and a more serious approach to the application of standards and the
protection of human health is urgently required.

Craig Shaw
GREEN POINT

I strongly object to any new coal mines or extensions to existing ones,
we do not need new areas to be dug up, there is more than enough coal
in existing mines to supply our needs until renewables replace or make
up the shortfall in coal production.
If we are to meet our targets under the Paris agreement we must cut
back on coal. The towns and villages surrounding the coal mines have
suffered enough from ill health caused by mining.

I object to the Glendell Mine expansion and draw your attention to the
burgeoning legal cases around the world that are taking governments to
court for failing to act on climate science and protect natural
resources from destruction and pollution. NSW residents will be left
vulnerable to huge damages costs as a result of class actions. I've
included some links below and urge you to consider the turning
international tide towards any form of fossil fuel mining and it's
impact on the environment.

Yours sincerely
Stephanie Luke

1.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04042018/climate-change-fossil-fuel-company-lawsuits-timeline-exxon-children-california-cities-attorney-general
2. https://planb.earth
3.
https://www.dw.com/en/four-climate-change-lawsuits-to-watch-in-2018/a-42066735

The application for modification fails to meet the standards of air
quality set even by NSW inadequate protections and will have
cumulative impacts in degrading the local environment and air quality.
The impact of coal mining expansions on greenhouse gas emissions
contributing to the global climate crisis is in breach of national
obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement.
Further expansion of coal mining is untenable for the local community
and the people of NSW whose interests this administration is said to
represent.
1. The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM standards
2. The air quality assessment failed to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines
of assessing air quality
3. The air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative ambient
air quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts. In the last five
years the area has had critical levels of air pollution impacting on
human health when measured under the new national standards.
4. The project leaves a final void and lowers the class of
agricultural land in the final landform from class 1V or V down to
class V111. This lowers the land value and productivity for future
users
5. The modification proposes to change the mine operational time from
June 2024 to Year 2024.
6. Failure to administer new NEPM standards to acquisition rights
especially in relation to cumulative impacts
7. Failure to identify water concerns for the residents on tank water,
with less rain fall and climatic changes in weather patterns
8. Glencore misled the Community Consultative Committee on the matter
of public exhibition for this modification

I object to any more mine expansions in the Hunter valley and
specifically to the proposed Glendell extension Mod 4.
If there is to be any hope of controlling the worst effects of climate
change we must immediately cease approving more coal mines and mine
extensions. It is unfair to give communities a false sense of economic
security by approving more mine extensions when there needs to be a
plan for a just transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy
projects.
In addition:
1. The project will leave an open cut final void. This is an
unacceptable environmental legacy left for future generations to
manage and bear the brunt of the degradation.
2. Air quality in the Hunter is at critical levels of air pollution
and impacting on human health. I understand the air quality assessment
failed to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines of assessing air quality. The
air quality assessment for this proposal has failed to identify
cumulative ambient air quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts
measured under the new national standards.
3. I understand that Glencore misled the Community Consultative
Committee on the matter of public exhibition for this modification.
Communities need ample time to respond to such complex technical
reports and serious long term environmental impacts.

Firstly I object to this modification because this part of the Hunter is
over-saturated with open cut coal mines and residents must not be
subjected any more adverse impacts.
I am appalled that Glencore misled the CCC re the public exhibition
for this modification; why?
There are many reasons why it should not be approved but the air
quality has to be pre-eminent. The air quality assessment did not
apply the new NEPM standards for a start, nor the EPA 2017 guidelines.
It did not take into account the cumulative air quality at Camberwell
and region, which has had critical levels of pollution over the last
five years, with health impacts that ought not be ignored. Camberwell
has been made hell enough without making it worse.
I am also concerned that it will leave a final void and plans to lower
the class of final landform from Class IV or V to VIII.
It is unfair that the proposal fails to administer new NEPM standards
regarding acquisition rights, particularly following cumulative
impacts - and that it ignores concerns for the impacts on tankwater
for residents.

The application, falls short of compliance under the NPW Acts for
protecting Aboriginal heritage. contained in the documents page 24 of
the Oz ark assessments makes the following statement.
No Aboriginal community members accompanied the visual inspection of
the study area during the August 2017 assessment. However, Aboriginal
community were present during the April/May 2018 GCOP assessment that
included the study area and no specific cultural values pertaining to
the study area were raised.

The registered Native title party were not consulted with regard to
this Mod.The Department of the Environment and Energy has received our
applications under section 9 and section 10 of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth) (the ATSIHP
Act). the area we are seeking protection is contained with in the
application lodged with ATSIHP. this further demonstrates that no
consolation was done with the registered native title claim group. the
Bowmans glens creek area is of significant cultural importance to
Wonnarua people.

Also contained on page 24 of the ozark report in the following
statement.

A search of the OEH administered AHIMS database was not completed over
the study area as the Mount Owen Complex maintains an up-to-date,
accurate GIS system of recorded sites within the MOC ACHMP boundary.
The sites on the Mount Owen Complex GIS heritage database have been
verified against the AHIMS data, as well as being inspected on the
ground to verify current site conditions and the accuracy of the AHIMS
data at particular sites. As such, there is a high degree of
confidence in the data held on the Mount Owen Complex GIS heritage
database.Mount Owen Complex is not the regularity regulator for AHMIS
that is the Office of heritage and inviroment this statement confirms
that proper current search of the AHIMS system was not completed as a
requirement under the NPW Acts. i cannot believe the OEH have not
reviewed this document before it was submitted to your department and
if it was reviewed by OEH Newcastle serious questions need to be asked
as to what this department are in fact doing when it comes to ensuring
these applications are in compliance with the NPW Acts dealing with
Aboriginal heritage.

i would like to point out that crown land 58/D752499 is still
registered on the clown lands data base as a Crown reserve and
conformation should be court weather Native title under a section 29
would need to be granted before this land could be destroyed.

1. The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM standards.
2. The air quality assessment failed to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines
of assessing air quality.
3, The project leaves a final void and lowers the class of
agricultural land in the final landform from class IV or V down to
class V111. This lowers the land value and productivity for future
users.
4. Glencore misled the Community Consultative Committee on the matter
of public exhibition for this modification.

GLENDELL MINE MODIFICATION 4 MOUNT OWEN COMPLEX
Private Submission Bob Hill, Millthorpe

I write this submission as bushfires engulf swathes of north
Queensland while the rest of that state and much of NSW is in dire
drought. At the same time Sydney has just experienced its severest
rain storm in over 30 years. Under NSW planning guidelines,
environment assessments of mining proposals are conducted as if it is
only the immediate geographical environment that is affected by the
proposal. In the case of fossil fuels like coal this could not be
further from the truth. The impact of the burning of fossil fuel is
global and overwhelmingly negative. Extending the operations of coal
mines in NSW leads to extending of bushfire seasons across the planet,
extending of droughts and other extreme weather events like cyclones,
extending the warming of the planet and extending the rising of the
ocean sea levels among other things. We are all directly impacted.
The recent IPCC report in relation to the Paris Agreement on emissions
reductions indicates that, even in the unlikely event that all nations
honoured their Paris commitments, we could not keep the increase in
global emission to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/sr15/sr15_spm_final.pdf
This finding was confirmed in the, just released, United Nations
Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report which points out that the
world is facing a climate emergency requiring immediate and drastic
action including the rapid phasing out of the mining and burning of
coal.
https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2018

As the President of our local RFS, I feel privileged to be able to
help save lives and property in the event of fires like those at Mount
Canobolas in February 2018 where our brigade was involved. However, I
resent the fact that the same politicians who relish the chance to
attend every photo opportunity around the fires do nothing to reduce
the incidence of fires by confronting the climate emergency. Our fire
season is lengthening and the fires are increasing in severity. No
single identified fire can be directly attributed to climate change
but the increasing incidence of fires and the increasing severity can
be. The Glendell Mine Modification will result in more burning of coal
and more bushfires, severer droughts and more temperature-related
health problems.
As a grandfather I despair of the havoc that climate change is
bringing. The probable death of the Great Barrier Reef, the loss of
habitat for many plants and animals, the volatile international
relations situation caused by droughts and flooding of low-lying
regions will all need to be addressed by my grandchildren and great
grandchildren. We should not impose this burden on them
The Glendell Mine Modification should not be permitted.

I am objecting to the Glendell Extension Mod 4 for the following reasons.
Firstly air quality is a major concern with the assessment not only
failing to apply the newNEPM standards but also failing to apply the
EPA 2017 guidlines for assessing air quality. Not only that but the
air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative ambient air
quality at Camberwell and otherdistricts which have,inthe past 5
years, had levels of air pollution impacting onhuman health according
to the new national standards.
Secondly there is a failure to administer new NEPM standards to
acquisition rights especially in relation to cumulative impacts.
The third failure in the proposal concerns water for those residents
on tank water. This is a huge worry with the changing climatic
conditions ie more heat and less reliable rainfall but there is no
acknowledgement of this being a problem.

The upper Hunter is dying under the constant upheaval of the earth. We
live with a cloud of dust over us. The latest mine approval at Mt
Pleasant has left us with a huge exposed area. The valley is subject
to high temperatures,high wind and low rainfall. Please,if you have
any sort of moral fibre don t keep approving these mines. There will
be nothing left,there is almost nothing now. I m sick of people saying
to me " oh the lovely Hunter Valley" when i tell them where i live.
And i have to say well it not lovely anymore.

This modification is crazy! I strongly object to it.Why are you so
willing to put a coal mine right next to where people live.The mines
look after their workers with regular health checks for Black lung and
protection from dust.So what is the difference for the people who are
left living near the mine?
The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM standards,it
also fails to identify cumulative ambient air quality at Camberwell
and surrounding districts. It also failed to apply EPA 2017 guidelines
of assessing air quality. No wonder people in this area have such bad
respiratory problems.
Failure to identify water concerns for residents on tank water. Less
rainfall and climate changes in weather patterns.
Failure to administer new NEPM standards to acquisition rights
especially in relation to cumulative impacts.
CCC was misled on the matter of public exhibition for this
modification.
Once again
Thank You

I object to this modification of the Glendell mine, even if it is only a
minor modification.
Air quality assessments have failed on many levels. It has failed to
apply the new NEPM standards, also it has failed to use the EPA 2017
guidelines when assessing air quality. The assessment has failed to
identify cumulative ambient air quality, failed Camberwell and
surrounding districts where in past 5 years has had critical levels of
air pollution impacting on health and well being when measured under
new national standards.
There is also water concerns for residents on tank water with less
rainfall and changing weather patterns.
The modification has failed to administer new NEPM standards to
acquisition rights in relation to cumulative impacts(noise dust
blasting etc).
A final void lowers the value of the land and the productivity for
future users.
Thank You
Denise Williams

Camberwell is already the most impacted community re poor air quality in
the Upper Hunter. Cumulative impact must be assessed. Higher standards
need to be a condition of consent
The new final void will result in more degraded land in the long term

I object to this modification because Camberwell's air quality is
already frequently triggering health alerts, increases the amount of
final void and further pollutes local drinking water.

The drought we are experiencing should be a warning that anticipated
water for dust suppression may well not be available. Burning more
coal is exacerbating the problem of climate change when we actually
need to be keeping sequestered carbon secure.
Rehab in these conditions is highly unlikely.

1.The last thing that the Hunter Valley needs,in these dry times, is
increased coal mining. Already the air, from the mining and burning of
coal is well known for it's effect of increasing respiratory illness
way beyond the national average.
Muswellbrook was recently voted the worst polluted town in Australia
in an Australian Conservation Foundation survey of air quality in
Australia due to mining and burning of coal..

2.The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM guidelines.

3.The air quality assessment failed again to consider cumulative
impact.

4.Rain fall is lower now than ever, possibly due to burning coal, and
no attention has been paid to local residents concerns about
contamination of tank water from this mine, which they are entirely
dependent on.

5.Beyond that, today, Sir David Attenborough, well known international
naturalist appealed to the international community to stop burning
fossil fuels or face man made climatic catastrophe, if global
temperature increases exceed 1.5c. in only a few years. It is simple
insanity to continue burning coal when we know it's result.
These predictions are in line with the recent IPCC report.

6.This project should not be allowed to leave a final void for future
generations to deal with. If the land form cannot be restored then the
mine is not viable.

7. Even if the landform is restored, the final landform will change
from Class 1V or V down to Class 111V, which lowers the value and
productivity of the land.

This further mine extension should not proceed.

I object to the proposed modification on the basis that:
1. The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM standards
2. The air quality assessment failed to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines
of assessing air quality
3. The air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative ambient
air quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts. In the last five
years the area has had critical levels of air pollution impacting on
human health, if measured under the new national standards.
4. The project leaves a final void and lowers the class of
agricultural land in the final landform from class 1V or V down to
class V111. This lowers the land value and productivity for future
users
5. We desperately need to reduce our carbon emissions, not increase
them. This coal needs to stay in the ground.

I note that the air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM
standards as well the air quality assessment failed to apply the EPA
2017 guidelines of assessing air quality - I do not believe this is a
good enough standard to apply.
The air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative ambient air
quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts. In the last five
years the area has had critical levels of air pollution impacting on
human health, if measured under the new national standards. This also
is not good enough to allow more coal development.
The project leaves a final void and lowers the class of agricultural
land in the final landform from class 1V or V down to class V111. This
lowers the land value and productivity for future users - this is an
appalling outcome for our valley and for our farmers.
I believe that failure to administer new NEPM standards to acquisition
rights especially in relation to cumulative impacts will have ongoing
adverse impacts on the community of the Hunter.
I also believe that a failure to identify water concerns for the
residents on tank water, with less rain fall and climatic changes in
weather patterns will lead to ongoing health and safety issues.
Glencore has misled the Community Consultative Committee on the matter
of public exhibition for this modification, I believe.

please advise receipt of submission as soon as practicable thank you.


PO Box 188
East Maitland NSW 2323
5th December 2018

Glendell Mine - Modification 4 - Minor Extension
Glendell Extension Modification 4

Hunter Environment Lobby Inc objects to proposal

Hunter Environment Lobby Inc.(HEL) is a regional community-based
environmental organization that has been active for well over 25 years
on the issues of environmental degradation, species and habitat loss,
and climate change.

HEL has lodged submissions on all the major developments in this area
in all their iterations, and is once again making a submission against
this development on the grounds of health of the local community, as
well as health of the surrounding environment.

We note that the air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM
standards as well as failing to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines of
assessing air quality. This will impact on the health of Hunter people
who already suffer severe impacts of mining and coal fired power
generation.
We note that the air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative
ambient air quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts. In the
last five years the area has had critical levels of air pollution
impacting on human health, if measured under the new national
standards.
HEL has been protesting to this department for over ten years about
the allowance of final voids in the coal industry. This project leaves
a final void and lowers the class of agricultural land in the final
landform from class 1V or V down to class V111. This lowers the land
value and productivity for future users.
It has always been our policy to push for no final voids - if the
project cannot afford to back fill them, it is not a viable project.
There is a systemic failure to administer new NEPM standards to
acquisition rights especially in relation to cumulative impacts - this
leaves the impacted residents and farmers in a no win situation - they
have ended up with stranded assets.
A gross failure to identify water concerns for the residents on tank
water, with less rain fall and climatic changes in weather patterns,
is a negligent oversight that the deparment needs to rectify.
We believe tha Glencore has misled the Community Consultative
Committee on the matter of public exhibition for this modification -
there should have been more time for community members to prepare
submissions and gain expert assistance.
HEL believes that these issues plus the extra green house gases
escaping this latest modification make for a mandatory stop on any
extra modifications for this mine.





Yours in trust,




Jan Davis
President Hunter Environment Lobby Inc.

I object to this proposal primarily on the basis that it will generate
increased greenhouse gas emissions in the mining and burning of the
coal from this mine. Given that climate change effects are already
becoming pronounced and more dangerous, it would be highly
inappropriate and immoral to mine and burn new coal from this mine.

I also support the following concerns as raised by the local
community:
1. The air quality assessment failed to apply the new NEPM standards
2. The air quality assessment failed to apply the EPA 2017 guidelines
of assessing air quality
3. The air quality assessment failed to identify cumulative ambient
air quality at Camberwell and surrounding districts. In the last five
years the area has had critical levels of air pollution impacting on
human health, if measured under the new national standards.
4. The project leaves a final void and lowers the class of
agricultural land in the final landform from class 1V or V down to
class V111. This lowers the land value and productivity for future
users
5. The modification proposes to change the mine operational time from
June 2024 to Year 2024.
6. Failure to administer new NEPM standards to acquisition rights
especially in relation to cumulative impacts
7. Failure to identify water concerns for the residents on tank water,
with less rain fall and climatic changes in weather patterns
8. Glencore misled the Community Consultative Committee on the matter
of public exhibition for this modification

Sincerely
Susan Morlye