April 29, 2010

Cliffs crumbled due to coalmining, says new report - 27 April 2010


DOZENS of cliffs have crumbled or collapsed, Aboriginal rock art has been destroyed and metre-wide
cracks opened in the earth as a result of coalmining in the Gardens of Stone wilderness area near
Lithgow, an independent report has found.

The report, to be launched today by the former premier Bob Carr, documents wide-scale, unpublicised
damage, including the destruction of some of the area's unique sandstone pagodas and rock arches.

''In its monitoring reports to government, the coal industry regularly understates the damage caused,''
said Keith Muir, the executive officer of the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, which produced the
report. ''Mine operations do not work to minimise environmental damage and have been largely
unresponsive to environmental concerns.''

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