Federal
Environment Minister Greg Hunt announced his government’s approval of the
Shenhua Watermark coal mine on July 4.
If it receives final approval from the NSW Government, this
controversial mine near Breeza in the Liverpool Plains is expected to produce
up to 268 million tonnes of coal over a 30 year period.
Shenhua is a state-controlled Chinese company.
The
Liverpool Plains are one of the richest agricultural areas in the nation. For
years local farmers, with fears about the impact of this industry on their
livelihoods and the future viability of the area for agriculture, have been
campaigning strongly against the mine.
A major
concern of the farmers is the damage that this huge open cut mine – 35 square
km in the middle of the plains – will have on groundwater. Coal mines use water but the issue for local
farmer Tim Duddy is not the water they extract for their operations but the
likely damage the mine will do to the groundwater which is vital to local agriculture.
Health
impacts are another concern for locals – something that is obvious in other
areas such as the Hunter Valley where there are large open-cut coal mines.
There is
also the loss of remnant native vegetation and the biodiversity that relies on
it - a significant 789 ha of an endangered ecological community and 148 ha of
other woodland.
Federal
Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce, in whose electorate of New England the
mine will be, slammed the Environment Minister’s approval of the project. He is
now hoping that the NSW Government will not issue its final approvals and the
mine will then not go ahead. Given the
state government’s track record on approving coal mines (including their
expansion), it seems a forlorn hope for Joyce. It is likely that he will be
under considerable political pressure in his electorate.
And
there is another issue. Use of coal is
expected to decline steadily as current users switch to less carbon intensive
fuels in order to combat climate change. As this happens, will this project be
worth the investment when it comes on line or will it become a stranded asset ?
