REHABILITATION plans for Drayton coal mine are being modified only two months after news of a sale to Malabar Coal, prompting Lock the Gate to call for greater transparency and public feedback on rehabilitation and closure works.
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The NSW Department of Planning has confirmed discussions with Anglo American about a new rehabilitation application in the period before the Malabar sale was announced.
The company requested a changed rehabilitation schedule to accelerate works, and after a decision to award the work to a contractor.
In a statement this week the department said Anglo was investigating improvements to the final landform after refusal of its fourth application for a Drayton South mine led to the Drayton mine closure. The department said the revised schedule and final landform modifications would be outlined in an application to modify the existing mine operations plan.
Any potential further changes to the rehabilitation schedule because of the sale to Malabar, announced in May, would require a further application and approval by the department.
“Malabar will be required to meet the existing rehabilitation obligations associated with the Drayton mine and it will be the department’s expectation that this is completed as soon as possible. The department will continue to maintain the existing rehabilitation security deposit,” the department said.
But Lock the Gate Hunter spokesperson Steve Phillips said the lack of detailed information illustrated significant failings in the current mine rehabilitation process.
"Open cut coal pits dominate the landscape of our region, and the public is anxious to know if, when, and how these contaminated sites are being rehabilitated,” Mr Phillips said.
“Mine rehabilitation and closure plans should be put out for public feedback. There should be a public register of all the active, mothballed, and closed mines in our region, showing what their rehab plans are, and how they are progressing.
“The Drayton mine is the first of the big Hunter open cuts to reach closure stage. It's a test case for mine rehabilitation in the Hunter, and will set the tone for the dozens of other large pits in our region that will close in the years to come.”
A recent NSW Audit Office report confirmed that NSW taxpayers continue to carry the long term risk for contamination events at former mine sites.
In 2015 the Department of Planning approved “unprecedented” final voids at Drayton coal mine despite initial reservations about their stability and future maintenance. Anglo planned to blast and bulldoze highwalls of up to 100 metres, with spoil as a buttress submerged beneath water.
