2023-03-10
Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns must commit to ruling out any new longwall mining in Sydney’s water catchment as well as a timetable to phase it out after it was revealed that one of the last actions by the NSW National Party Water Minister was to hand out water licences to coal companies mining in the catchment, says Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP and water spokesperson.
“The Government’s move shows it acknowledges the impact coal mining is having on Sydney’s water catchment, yet instead of acting to protect our water supply they’re locking in decades of water loss at a time when we are going to have less water to sustain a growing population,” said Cate Faehrmann.
“The Government has long claimed that mining under Sydney’s water catchment has no impact on water supplies but is now handing out water entitlements to deal with the vast amount of water that is being used to mine coal in our precious catchment, including what is leaking from subsidence caused by longwall mining.
“I’ve visited areas in the catchment where coal mining is occurring nearby and seen for myself creek and river beds that have massive cracks in them caused by longwall mining with water just draining away.
“There is no doubt that Sydney will face dry conditions again in the next few years. We can’t afford for coal companies to be taking unlimited amounts of drinking water and putting Sydney’s water security at risk.
“Sydney’s water catchment is the only publicly owned water catchment in the world that has longwall mining allowed under it. The community is disappointed that both major parties seem content to allow mining in the catchment to continue.
“The Greens will rule out any more mining in the catchment to protect Sydney’s water security. We will also develop a plan to phase out coal mining in Sydney’s water catchment altogether, and I’m calling on all parties to commit to doing the same.
“Coal mining has no future, but particularly in Sydney’s water catchment in a climate emergency,” said Cate Faehrmann.
Contact: Jacob Miller - 0428 837 292