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4 NEWCASTLE HERALD Wednesday, August 28, 2013

HERALD NEWS

WhatonearthhasLandcrackedandcrumblingBy DONNA PAGE

PATH OF DESTRUCTION

NEWCASTLE

WARNERS BAY

WEST WALLSEND

WAKEFIELDAwaba State Forest

WHAT A MESS: Thesepictures reveal thedestruction withinthe SugarloafConservation Area,included awaterwayaccidentallygrouted, above, aslab of rock fallenfrom a wall, right,and the collapse ofa hillside, far right.

Pictures:Darren Pateman

A LARGE section of Sugar-loaf State Conservation Areahas been destroyed by whatappears to be greater thanpredicted mine subsidencefrom Glencore’s West Wall-send Colliery.

A Newcastle Herald investig-ation has uncovered clifffaces crumbled or collapsed,a waterway destroyed, largecracks opened in the earthand a huge collapse of ahillside.

Damage was tracked overmore than two kilometreswithin the ecologically sensit-ive conservation area adjacentto the mine’s Longwall 41.

In one area a cliff face fallof more than 20 metres wasdiscovered.

Damage was caused byunplanned subsidence fromlongwall mining by WestWallsend Colliery that is min-ing under 23 per cent of theconservation area.

The Herald can also revealin June this year a waterwaywas accidentally grouted byworkers carrying out remedi-ation works in the reserve.

A spokesman for the Officeof Environment and Heritageconfirmed grouting material,used to fill mine subsidencecracks and holes, leaked intoa ‘‘drainage line’’ and thecolliery had been ordered to‘‘clean up the site’’.

The Herald found anotherlarge depressed part of landin the reserve where all thetrees had died.

Vast sections of the reserveare cordoned off, with24-hour security guards mon-itoring two access pointsalong Archery Road.

It is understood the dam-age was first detected in thepopular bushwalking andmountain bike riding area inOctober last year during minestaff’s regular inspections ofthe subsidence zone abovethe longwall operation.

A spokesman for the minesaid the damage was repor-ted ‘‘immediately to authorit-ies’’.

He said the subsidenceaffected an escarpment160 metres above the mine.

‘‘West Wallsend Collierycontinues to work with relev-ant authorities to maintainpublic safety, provide appro-priate remediation of miningimpacts and operate in aresponsible manner,’’ he said.

The underground mine hasbeen operating in the Wake-field area since 1969.

‘‘Occasionally, surfacecracking and rock falls occuras a result of undergroundmining,’’ the mine spokesmansaid.

‘‘Because of this, wedevelop subsidence manage-ment plans that are approvedby all relevant authorities, toappropriately manage andremediate affected areas.’’

The Herald found severallarge cracks running acrosswalking trails and subsid-ence holes throughout theeasily accessible area.

Environmentalists andbushwalking groups wereoutraged at the destructionyesterday and called forimmediate intervention byEnvironment Minister RobynParker.

Ms Parker did not respondto questions from the Heraldyesterday.

National Parks AssociationHunter president Ian Dono-van described the damage as‘‘completely unacceptable’’.

‘‘This would be totallyunacceptable in an urbanenvironment, but it appearsto be acceptable at least tomining companies, in a stateconservation area,’’ he said.

‘‘This is depriving peopleof enjoyment of the conserva-tion area, let alone theimpacts on a highly sensitivearea of the range.’’

The Office of Environmentand Heritage spokesman said

the department was notifiedof the ‘‘greater than predictedsubsidence event’’ on Octo-ber 2 last year.

He said the majority of theconservation area was opento the public and urged visit-ors to remain on formedtracks for safety.

A review is under way ofthe colliery’s safety manage-ment plan prepared as partof the mine approval.

The spokesman said thelargest subsidence event was120 metres long and approx-imately 17 metres wide, with

remediation being co-ordinated by the mine.

Adjoining land ownerRobert Bignell, who raisedthe issue of large sections ofthe reserve being cordonedoff with Ms Parker earlierthis year, was ‘‘disgusted’’.

‘‘I was given assurances bythe minister in writing thateverything was fine and therewas not a problem,’’ he said.

‘‘As a daily bushwalker inthe park, I can’t believe thedamage that has been caused.It’s an outrage and somethingneeds to be done about it.’’

West Wallsend Collierycommunity consultative com-mittee chair and LakeMacquarie councillor WendyHarrison said she wasunaware of the scale of thedamage.

Cr Harrison said mine rep-resentatives had informedthe committee of a subsid-ence event some time ago.

‘‘We were told there was anissue and that it was all undercontrol,’’ Cr Harrison said.

‘‘I will be raising this at thenext meeting and seekingfurther information.’’

In 2011 state officials fromthe environment departmentraised concerns that the minecould damage creeks in theconservation area and urgedXstrata, now Glencore, toavoid mining areas at a lowdepth in the government-owned conservation area.

In a submission to theplanning department, thedepartment warned subsid-ence could threaten wildlifeand ecosystems.

The coal company pre-dicted subsidence falls of upto 2.5 metres above workings.

Planspromisedminorshift,nowcompany looks formoreBy IAN KIRKWOOD

IN 2010, plans on displaywith the state governmentshowed new workings atthe West Wallsend minewere expected to createup to 2.5 metres of minesubsidence in theSugarloaf StateConservation Area.

At the time, theNewcastle Herald reportedthat the mine ran understeep slopes that created ahigh potential for ‘‘steepslope soil failure",especially under longwallpanels numbered 39 to 48.

Three years on it appearsthat the West Wallsendmine has indeed causedsubstantial surface damagethrough mine subsidence,as photos published herereveal.

A few kilometres north ofthe West Wallsend lease,the Chinese owners of theAbel and Tasmanunderground mines areseeking approval forchanges to mining methodspredicted to create up to3.1 metres of verticalsubsidence.

Yancoal says both mineswere originally approved as

bord-and-pillar operations‘‘so that subsidence can belimited’’ but it now wantsgovernment approval forlongwall mining in parts ofthe Abel operation.

In March it said existingsubsidence impacts –including the ‘‘apparent sagof power lines’’ betweenpower poles and surfacecracks up to 375 millimetreswide – had been dealt withunder a subsidencemanagement plan.

The Planning NSWwebsite says Yancoal’sapplication has not beendetermined.