Free environmental law workshop

The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is holding a workshop in Lithgow next Thursday 17th March at the Lithgow Information & Neighbourhood Centre (LINC), Cnr of Railway Pde/Padley St from 6:00 - 9:00pm.

The workshop will provide an overview of some of the key laws governing mining in NSW, the planning and environmental law framework in which decisions are made, public participation in this process, and other useful information. It will also look at the new process for making local environmental plans (LEPs) and the contents of the standard instrument.

The Environmental Defender's Office Ltd, (EDO), is a not-for-profit community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law. We help individuals and community groups who are working to protect the natural and built environment.  You can go to their website to find out more about the workshop http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/default.php

For more information or to RSVP, email education@edo.org.au or call (02) 9262 6989

Also RSVP to Thomas Ebersol newnes@lisp.com.au  for catering purposes. Light refreshments and we ask for a gold coin donation.

Info from CVA

Minister to raise coal and gas exclusion zones

ABC News 10 Mar 2011

NSW Planning Minister, Tony Kelly, says he will ask the Premier to consider exclusion zones as part of Labor's strategy for the future of the state's coal and gas industries.

Mr Kelly will meet with Kristina Keneally after more than 400 people attended a forum in Singleton on land use conflicts between the resource industries and its neighbours.

The Hunter Valley meeting was the largest gathering of the four held so far to guide development of the strategy.

Read full article.

Gas exploration near Sydney dam 'makes mockery of guidelines'

The Midday Report - Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Sydney's Water Catchment - Gas Exploration
Scientists have expressed concern after the New South Wales Government approved natural gas
exploration around south-west Sydney's Woronora Dam.

ABC News audio visual link - expires Tuesday, June 7, 2011.

Coal forum, Singleton

NSW Minister for Planning Tony Kelly will be in Singleton tomorrow to address the community and stakeholder forum on the new NSW Coal and Gas Strategy.

Yesterday Mr Kelly agreed there should be some locations off limits to coal mining.

Agriculture in the Sydney basin, the thoroughbred industry and Pokolbin and its vineyards are just three   Mr Kelly suggested when speaking with The Singleton Argus on Monday.

“I think it is justified that we look at that, there is a lot of coal in New South Wales and we will never get to extract it all,” he said.

He added that ramifications of any decision to slow mining would have dire consequences of places like Singleton in terms of employment and economic growth.

“The aim of the strategy is to develop a range of initiatives to provide greater certainty for stakeholders, communities, the mining industry and the environment,” Mr Kelly said.

The forum is being held tomorrow at the Singleton Civic Centre from 10.30am to 1pm.

People who want to attend need to register in advance by phone 1300 305 695 or at www.planning.nsw.gov.au/forums.

Article in The Singleton Argus 8 Mar 2011

NEW INFORMATION ON THE RYLSTONE RARE EARTHS EXPLORATION LICENCE

Thanks to Deb and Greg Bush, we’ve obtained some further information on the minerals project related with the Exploration Licence (EL) 7696 just granted at the southern end of the Bylong Valley, and covering parts of Barigan and down through Breakfast Creek toward Rysltone. Most of the information is geological, but at least it gives you an idea what they’re looking for. You can find the updated info on the “Bylong Specific Info” page of the Bylong Mining web pages:

http://www.craigshaw.com.au/bylongmining/bylong_specific_info.html - Click on the heading “2.5. Bylong/Barigan Minerals - EL 7696 (formerly ELA 3994) (Strategic Minerals)” in the summary list of headings at the top of the page.

From Craig

State Government rejects Kores coal mine plan for Wyong

The NSW Government today rejected the Wallarah 2 coal mine proposal near Wyong due to unresolved concerns regarding subsidence, water, ecological and heritage impacts.

This is despite a Planning Assessment Commission recommendation that it be approved.

NSW Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly, said the proponent, the Korean-based company Kores working as the Wyong Areas Coal Joint Venture, had not adequately demonstrated the mine could go ahead without unacceptable environmental risk.

Express Advocate article by Errol Smith 4 Mar 2011

Let them eat coal? Time to talk about food security

The government has a choice: let mining, climate change and urban sprawl overrun agriculture, or devise a plan to protect the lands that nourish the state.
SMH article by Debra Jopson 1 March 2011

Posted for Nell

NSW Coalition to target key coalmine licences

Monday’s Australian Financial Review carried a front-page story talking about the Coalition’s plans to review exploration licences as part of its policy relating to mining and agriculture. According to the AFR, the Coalition plans to pay close attention to Mt Penny and Doyle’s Creek as part of this process, and has promised that “…any inappropriateness… will be pursued diligently”. (From Craig)

Click here to view/download article.

PETER AUSTIN’S “PEPPERCORN” COLUMN IN THE LAND

Peter Austin, from “The Land” newspaper, stumbled across the BVPA, Rylstone Environment Group and other displays at the Rylstone show and has written on the theme of “we can’t eat coal” in his “Peppercorn” column this week (p38).
Click on article to enlarge.

 

From Craig

SHOW DAY 2011

Assuming prime position outside the CWA, the Association made its presence felt at the annual Rylstone/Kandos show last Saturday. Volunteers gave out information to the public and signed up new members concerned about the rapid growth of coal mining in the area and the impact that it is having on our water resources.

As the temperatures rose, many friends availed themselves of the fresh spring water sourced from the headwaters of Carwell Creek on Mt Vincent. This creek flows west into the Cudgegong River and on into the Murray/Darling Catchment.

Any coal mining under Mt. Vincent, as is presently being proposed by the Thai-owned company Centennial Coal, would cause irreparable damage this natural waterway and all the species that rely on it (including humans!).

It is the Association's mission to prevent this from happening.

Coal and Your Health

 

Presentations on Coal and Health coming up, both at 10.30: in Sydney (9th March) and Mudgee (12th March) - hopefully you can make one of these.

Posted for President

NSW Election Rally to protect local communities, agricultural land and water

Please put this date in your diary and tell all your friends. RSWUA is planning a presence of course.We'll be in touch re transport arrangements closer to the date.

Posted for President

Airly Coal Special Monitoring Committee meeting Capertee 15th March - Update

Email from CVA

Dear Members and residents of the Capertee Valley, Airly Coal, Nicole van den Berg has emailed information in relation to attending the Special Monitoring Committee meeting on 15th March. Please read the request below.

Happy to take numbers or contact Nicole in regard to your attendance, details below.

In regards to the CVA's invitation to the community to attend the next SMC meeting, please make reference to Section 3 of the Airly Special Monitoring Committee Terms of Reference that states:

I'm sure the SMC members will have no objections to anyone who would like to come to the meeting on the day however, observers cannot attend without the agreement of the committee and cannot participate without the permission of the chairperson.  Can you please confirm before hand if observers will be attending on the day, so we can allocate time at the beginning of the meeting to have their presence agreed upon by the committee.


Regards

Nicole Van den Berg
 Environment & Community Coordinator

Top level support for Bylong Valley campaign - ABC News

Comment on ABC's Four Corners program

Email from 'No COAL!ition'

This documentary shows how the Government is allowing the Great Artesian Basin to be depleted and toxified.  And thereby demoralise the food growers in the process.    The water table over there is plummeting and the fissures in the seams are being pumped with a legacy of toxic “fracking” chemicals.  Gas now flows freely from farmer’s bores and the ground bubbles with unmanaged methane.

Have a look at the politicians in the interviews – they have absolutely no idea.

ABC's Four Corners exposes dangers of coal seam gasification. This could happen here.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/default.htm

IT'S SHOW TIME!

Help us celebrate 20 years of vigilance over our unique springs and waterways at Rylstone/Kandos show this Saturday. Volunteers will be manning a stall with all sorts of merchandise and up to the minute information about our mission to protect our precious water from the impacts of proposed coal mining.

Come and get your very own Association cap (pictured) for only $20 or a T-shirt for $25. We will also be handing out free samples of our delicious water for anyone wishing to quench their thirst on the day.

And kids will be able to join our newly formed Puggles Club! We'll be learning about the 8 creeks that flow from Mt. Vincent and Cherry Tree Hill and all the creatures that live in them including baby platypuses, affectionately known as puggles. There will also be an opportunity to sign up for an expedition in search for these vulnerable monotremes.

So come along and meet members and mingle with friends at the Rylstone/Kandos Show, Sat 26th Feb. 2011.

'The Gas Rush' - FOUR CORNERS 21/2/11 8.30pm - Reminder

 

The ABC is broadcasting an exposé on Coal Seam Gas and its impact on farming and rural communities on its Four Corners Program on the 21st of February on its ABC1 channel at 8:30.

Lock The Gate Forum held in Broke 13 Feb 20001

Email from Lock The Gate Alliance

The Lock The Gate Forum held in Broke this past Sunday was a big success.  Thank-you to all who were able to make it.  And thank-you to all who have written to extend their apologies and offers to continue assisting in moving activities forward.

This is the first of a few emails I will be sending out to you all.  This email provides a brief overview of the key takeaways from the meeting.  I will be sending out further details in the subsequent emails, so please be sure to read through them all. 

An updated copy of the powerpoint presentation used at the forum is available for download at http://lockthegate.org.au/documents/doc-262-forum2---for-distribution-ppt.pdf

Feel free to distribute this email and the subsequent emails.

Please remind everyone to demonstrate their support by signing up as a member organization or individual supporter at www.lockthegate.org.au

The forum was a call-to-action for all communities to participate in the prioritization, planning and execution of the Lock The Gate project activities. 

The key goals of the forum were:
To prioritize project for the Lock The Gate alliance
To assemble teams to plan and execute the projects
To set goals and timelines for each project
The following current projects have been affirmed for the Alliance in the coming weeks:

1. Communications Campaign
- this will involve getting the message for the Alliance spread far and wide through stickers, posters, updated web activities and any other forms of direct communication we can muster.  Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of the print material and the opportunity to add Lock The Gate to your existing print material.

2. GASLAND Campaign
- this is an ongoing campaign to get as many people as possible to see the movie GASLAND.  Showings are scheduled at cinemas across NSW and QLD almost daily alongside many individual community groups sponsoring their own local showings.

3. 9-March-2011: Human Health Impacts of Open-Cut Coal Mining and Coal Seam Gas Mining Forum
- a panel of Australian and international experts will be presenting the evidence regarding human health impacts from these industries on Wednesday 9-March-2011 in Sydney - more details to follow.

4. 20-March-2011: Sydney Public Rally
- mark this date on your calendar - we hope to see thousands attend this important rally to take our message to our politicians, the media and the broader public.

5. 29-April through 3-May 2011: Queensland National Action
- a seminal event in Tara, Queensland, building awareness of the scale of the issues being dealt with by communities across Australia.  Four days of workshops, displays, forums, entertainment and direct action.  Tours of the local gas fields are scheduled, including the opportunity to get a view from overhead.  Please plan to attend - the key days for those traveling from far afield will be Saturday 1-May and Sunday 2-May.

6. Case File
- a growing group of volunteers, backed by accredited legal, medical and scientific expert vollunteers, is building the Lock The Gate case file to support our call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.  The case file will provide briefs and summaries on a wide variety of topics relating to these industries referencing an incredible breadth of research and fact-based evidence.  In some topic areas, teams of recognized experts have taken up the challenge of undertaking topic specific research to fill in the gaps.

7. Political Engagement
- a letter writing campaign is getting underway in order to help spread the message to politicians at all levels of government.  The immediate priority is to solicit the opinions of individual candidates running in the NSW election. 

In parallel to the above, the Lock The Gate strategy document is undergoing some refinement.  Expect it to be ready by the end of next week.  If you have further thoughts on our go-forward strategy, please email them to strategy@lockthegate.org.au
--
John C Thomson
Lock The Gate Alliance
mobile: +61 (0)428 439 586
email: john.thomson@lockthegate.org.au

Airly Coal Special Monitoring Committee meeting Capertee Hall Capertee 15th March

Copy of email from Capertee Valley Alliance

Dear all,

Airly Mine
Special Monitoring Committee  meeting will be held on 15th March at 10.30am at Capertee Hall.
The community are invited to attend and listen from the gallery but I think you have to be invited to speak.

If you have any questions you would like me to raise please send them to me 1 week prior to the meeting.

Financial members of CVA Inc were sent a copy of the 2010 Airly Coal newsletter.
Many thanks to the member who paid for the postage costs.
I apologise to those members who did not receive a copy as Centennial sent only 30 copies, members were posted out a copy in order of the date of membership application.
PS I understand through a member that the Bore for Airly Coal was approved yesterday (17th Feb 2011) at reduced capacity.
We have received no written comment from NSW Office of Water in regard to our submissions either as an individual or CVA Inc. The Executive committee placed on the Capertee Valley Blog a conversation held with Mr Richard Neville several days ago, visit:    http://caperteevalleyalliance.blogspot.com/  

Kind regards
Donna Upton
Chairman
Capertee Valley Alliance Inc.
Phone: 02 6379 7767
Mobile: 0428 22 33 01
Email: caperteevalleyallinc@ipstarmail.com.au
 http://caperteevalleyalliance.blogspot.com/
 http://caperteevalleyphotos.blogspot.com/

This glorious place is within the traditional country of the Wiradjuri people.

'The Gas Rush' - FOUR CORNERS 21/2/11 8.30pm

This is a MUST-SEE investigative report with many very important messages. Please tell ten friends and get them to tell ten friends about this, so that this is an episode that will be seen by all Australians. This is from Peter Cronau at Four Corners...

‘The Gas Rush’
 
With access to guerrilla activists and their undercover filming, Matthew Carney reports on the coalition of farmers, local townspeople and even a corporate titan who want to halt Australia's gas rush.

Imagine you are running a successful farming operation; then one day a man from the gas company arrives with news that a coal seam gas field lies beneath your feet. From there 3 wells are sunk, then another 18. And then a proposal for another 30, turning your property into a thriving gas field, while threatening the viability of the working farm.

Down the road, the neighbour sells after 48 wells are sunk into his property. The compensation of $250 a year, per well was not much inducement to stay. The wells themselves are estimated to be making the companies a million dollars a year, each.

And then the gas company says they might have to move your house to sink another well into the land.

This is the experience of just one of the farmers featured on Four Corners this week.

Right across Australia gas companies are drilling down through the earth to extract the resource that the industry says will be one of the answers to our future energy needs. Already some $31 billion worth of gas projects have been approved by the Federal Government, which are expected to generate thousands of jobs and billions in revenues.

But this precious resource lies beneath homes and farms, and the food bowls of Australia.

And this is where the gas companies are drilling; prompting a heated conflict over who should pay the price for our energy supplies.

Matthew Carney reports from communities in Queensland and NSW that are directly affected. Farmers tell of their feelings of violation and frustration; their belief that they are losing control of their properties and their ability to plan for the future. As one says "It's really frustrating. We have taken on extra debt to fund our farming business and we are powerless to stop people accessing it and abusing it."

But it's not only what's happening above ground that worries them.

One farmer claims his water supplies are dropping alarmingly as the coal seam drilling causes the water table to drop at an accelerated rate. This cattle farmer believes he may only have two years supply left in one of his key water bores.

Then there is the danger posed by faulty gas wells. The program shows local activists testing for leaks and finding highly explosive gasses leaking at alarming levels.

Others talk of their fears that Australia's greatest underground water resource, the Great Artesian Basin will be contaminated and depleted. Four Corners details cases of water supplies being tainted by salty toxic water.

Many of those affected are beginning to work together on a national campaign to call a halt to "The Gas Rush".

Four Corners, presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 21st February at 8.30pm on ABC 1. It is replayed on Tuesday 22nd February at 11.35 pm. You can also see the program on ABCNews24 at 8.00pm each Saturday, on ABC iview or on our website at Video on Demand.
 
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2011/s3141787.htm

Peter Cronau
Producer
Four Corners - ABC TV
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
GPO Box 9994, Sydney 2001, Australia
tel: (+61) 02 8333 4617
fax: (+61) 02 8333 4755
www.abc.net.au/4corners