South32 has submitted a revised environmental impact statement for the expansion of its Dendrobium coal mine, however opponents argue that the project should still be discontinued.
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The revised EIS outlines that the mine project would reduce its impacts on water catchments, a key reason why the Independent Planning Commission rejected the project in 2021.
According to South32, the current proposal reduces the longwall mining area by 60 per cent, compared to previous proposals.
The mine would be set back 400 metres from named watercourses and a kilometre from dam walls, said South32 Illawarra Metallurgical Coal Vice President Operations Peter Baker.
"Our revised mine plan considers feedback from the Independent Planning Commission and minimises environmental impacts while enabling the continuation of mining activities at the Dendrobium Mine, protecting local jobs and continuing to provide a significant contribution to the Illawarra and New South Wales economies," he said.
South32 said the revised plan would eliminate connective fracturing from the seam to surface and cut by 40 per cent the number of threatened swamps mining would occur underneath.
The revised plan would also reduce the number of Aboriginal heritage sites mined underneath from 22 to six, with a one in 10 chance of direct impact. No longwall mining would occur beneath Aboriginal heritage sites of high archaeological significance.
Critics of the mine proposal have argued that the revised EIS retains issues that were part of the original, rejected proposal.
Deidre Stuart, from Protect Our Water Catchment said the mine should be rejected.
"What's undeniable is that this proposal will still trash Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, drain upland swamps that are recognised as nationally significant, and threaten our drinking water," she said.
"The Perrottet Government must not risk all this just so a private company can continue to mine coal in our drinking water catchment area."
Following the IPC rejection of the proposal in 2021, the NSW state government declared the project state significant infrastructure, allowing NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts the final say on whether the mine will go ahead.
Independent MLC Justin Field called for greater transparency in the final approval process for the mine and the release of an independent review of the costs and benefits of the mine.
"Last year former Planning Minister Rob Stokes assured me the Department would commission independent advice on the economic costs and benefits of any new proposal by South32, as well as an assessment specifically investigating the need for the coal supply from the mine to support BlueScope Steel," he said.
"I'm calling on the new Planning Minister Anthony Roberts to honour this commitment, clarify a timeline for the provision of this advice and task the Independent Planning Commission to review any new advice to inform his decision. All additional assessments of the project must be made public and open to community and expert scrutiny.
"It would be unacceptable and would undermine the integrity of any decision making around this project if that information is not made public or only made public at the time of any decision," Mr Field said.
The EIS is on public exhibition until June 14, after which South32 will respond to submissions before a final decision is made by the Minister.
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