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The NSW Greens will push the new Labor government to start a transition plan to close a major coal mine in the northern Illawarra that has been operating since 1887.
Key points:
- The Greens want the Metropolitan Mine at Helensburgh to be phased out
- The mine came under the spotlight after a spill in 2021 covered sections of a creek and the Hacking River with sludge
- The mine has had new licence conditions imposed
Greens environment spokeswoman Sue Higginson said the Peabody-owned Metropolitan Mine at Helensburgh could not manage its pollution in line with community expectations in terms of environmental controls.
"What we know is this mine is old, it's dirty, it's in the wrong place," she said.
A spill from the mine during rain event in September 2021 blanketed sections of a nearby creek and the Hacking River within the Royal National Park with thick, black sludge.
It was the fourth environmental spill documented at the mine by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in the second half of the year.
Minister found spill 'disturbing'
Former environment minister James Griffin called footage of the spill "disturbing" and "completely unacceptable".
"It's my expectation if there are breaches found as a part of that investigation that the full weight of the regulatory powers of the EPA is brought to bear in ensuring that this organisation fix up their act and basically get out of our national park," he told ABC Radio in September.
The spill also delayed plans to re-introduce platypuses into the Royal National Park and resulted in the EPA upgrading the mine's licence with a "variation".
The variation requires Peabody to "conduct a detailed analysis of potential pollutants and contaminants that could discharge into the waterways".
"Testing will need to be conducted for a range of potential pollutants including metals, nutrients, pH, turbidity, and electrical conductivity," an EPA statement said.
But Ms Higginson said the measures were not good enough and Labor needed to formulate a plan to close the mine.
"We will absolutely be working with the community to push this Labor government to face the music that we are hearing right now and to get a plan on the table and start to work on the shutdown of this mine," she said.
The Labor Member-elect for Heathcote, Maryanne Stewart, told an election forum in the lead-up to the election her preference would be to transition the 400 workers at the mine into the renewable sector.
Ms Stewart said she stood by her earlier comments but now also pointed to a need to continue mining metallurgical coal until the science caught up.
"We need to be respectful of the workforce and the community," she said.
"We need to look at science which must guide planning decisions in the future, so it's about walking and chewing gum at the same time.
"We aren't there yet, we need metallurgical coal coking coal to make steel, to make solar panels, to make wind turbines."
Peabody complies with licence conditions
Peabody Energy said in a statement it acknowledged the Water Discharge Impact Assessment requested by the EPA formed part of its regular review of the company's environmental licence.
"The data collected will allow us to continue working cooperatively with the EPA to ensure compliance with our licence conditions and to achieve optimal environmental outcomes," a spokesperson said.
The company has previously said "the mine and its 400 employees supply coking coal to the Port Kembla steelworks" and "there is currently no affordable alternative to the high-quality, metallurgical coal we produce for the steel making process."