It was very distressing to see first hand the terrible pollution in the Wollangambe River. I was in a group of 17 people that walked down to two points in the river from Newnes Junction last Saturday.
The map below shows where the pollution – coal fines, entered the Wollangambe River, and thus into Blue Mountains National Park and the World Heritage Area. The red arrow shows the entry point. The two red crosses show our inspection areas. The green line marks the Blue Mountains National Park boundary.
The first inspection point was about 1 km below the entry point. The whole of the riverbed appeared to be covered in a thick deposit of a black substance. The river itself had a black colour.
Polluted Wollangambe River
The sediment on the bed of the river
Our second inspection point was about 2.5 km downstream from the entry point and was at the intersection with a small side creek. This part of the National Park was burnt in a bushfire during October 2013 and there is a lot of charcoal ash around. The clear water in the side creek however demonstrates very clearly that it is not bushfire related charcoal that has coated the bottom of the Wollangambe River.
Side creek – clear water
The junction of the side creek and the Wollangambe River. The pollution extends up the side creek about 2 metres.
On 3 July 2015, the mining company was issued with a Clean-Up Notice by the Environment Proection Authority. A copy of that notice can be found here on the EPA website. To quote from that notice –
CLEAN UP ACTION 7
- The licensee, by no later than 1700 hours on 07 July 2015, must remove all accumulated coal related material/deposits within the Wollangambe River downstream from the confluence with the affected drainage line.
Aslo in that notice –
Penalty for not complying with this notice
- The maximum penalty for a corporation is $1,000,000 and a further $120,000 for each day the offence continues.
I think the evidence in my photographs above shows that there is significant pollution remaining in the Wollangambe River. Reports from bushwalkers who have inspected the river downstream indicate that the pollution has now spread about 10 kms downstream from the entry point. And it seems likely to keep spreading further downstream!
The Colong Foundation has a webpage devoted to this issue with suggested action that the concerned public can take.
Some media releases can be found –
Centennial Coal Media Statement 30 July
Blue Mountains Gazette – 4 August
“Coal Fines” are the small particles of coal material that are “washed-off” the coal during the preparation plant process and discarded along with non-coal material and disposed of in large pools of water or ponds known as “slurry ponds”. These expansive areas of coal waste product are known as “impoundments”.
www.greenfieldscoal.com/faq2.php