Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said the government would use its full compliance and enforcement powers against any companies that acted in a negligent or harmful manner.
“Incidents like this are unacceptable – we’ve made that clear and this report is further evidence that the NSW government expects and will enforce the highest standards for mining in NSW,” Hazzard said.
Glencore subsdiary Oceanic Coal accepted that no further longwall mining should occur in the immediate vicinity of the area affected by the subsidence incident and amended its proposed extraction plan accordingly.
It has substantially reduced its proposed mining area in the Sugarloaf Range, giving up 2.2Mt of coal ($133 million in revenue).
The state is also foregoing nearly $8 million in royalties.
The NSW government has not ruled out taking further action against the company for breaches of consent conditions.
“While coal mining is vital to our state’s economy, the NSW government sets rules for the good of the community and the environment and those rules must be followed,” he said.
“We have been very clear on this – if companies don’t do the right thing, they’ll pay the price.”
The Office of Environment and Heritage and the Environment Protection Authority have both begun proceedings in the Land and Environment Court against Orica Australia.
The action relates to two separate charges, damaging Sugarloaf SCA and polluting waters, each of which carries a maximum penalty of $1 million or more.
Former Premier Barry O’Farrell ordered an investigation report in September last year following excessive subsidence impacts caused by mining in the Sugarloaf state conservation area and the subsequent remediation work undertaken on behalf of mining company Oceanic Coal.
Glencore has committed to provide a $100,000 financial offset package, which will be used to improve Sugarloaf SCA assets.
Court action against Orica Australia for alleged damage done in the Sugarloaf SCA while undertaking grouting to remediate mine subsidence (on behalf of Oceanic Coal), has started in the Land and Environment Court.
The companies must adhere to the strict government requirements for the remediation of the two grouting spillages – under the supervision of the Office of Environment and Heritage.
A full review of Oceanic Coal’s subsidence remediation grouting procedure will be carried out by the government, with the power to order changes to the procedure if deficiencies are found.
Oceanic Coal must include a detailed geotechnical risk assessment that addresses the risks of any further substantial subsidence incidents in future extraction plans (including Longwalls 42 and 43).
Oceanic Coal has substantially reduced its proposed mining in the Sugarloaf Range.
Work has already been undertaken to remediate the sites of grout spills with all grout removed from the 140m of the lowest end of the affected area and helicoptered out of the area for disposal.
The NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure has been advised by the companies that approximately $600,000 has been spent so far on remediation.
Hazzard said expert advice was that subsidence incidents of the severity experienced in the Sugarloaf SCA were rare and difficult to predict, with very few previously recorded in NSW.
“Given all of us were shocked at the photos of the grouting debacle, it is heartening to see in more recent photos that the remediation is well underway and the creek area is being restored,” he said.
