Australian Coal Alliance

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Australian Coal Alliance is a community action group formed in response to the coal mining proposal in Wyong hinterland, Central Coast by Kores, a company owned by the South Korean Government. The company seeks to mine coal beneath the drinking water catchments valleys of Dooralong and Yarramalong, Wyong, and build the coal loader on land it owns in Tooheys Rd, for 40 years. Such a large scale mining proposal so close to urban growth areas in North Sydney/Central Coast areas and under the drinking water catchments is unprecedented. Longwall coal mining is the most destructive form of mining leaving risks of land subsidence in the nearby areas and adverse environmental impacts.

The mining proposal has drawn widespread community concerns. "We do have substantive and compelling evidence that the mine will impact on the integrity of the water catchment," said Alan Hayes, the campaign co-coordinator for Australian Coal Alliance. "Throughout Australia, longwall coal mining has had a destructive impact on water systems."

Dam levels are down to about 13.9 per cent on the Central Coast and local councils are considering drastic measures such as installing temporary desalination plants on beaches.

The underground mine proposed could also lead to dust problems creating health risks to residents, and threatening of several endangered animal species in the valleys.

Other concerns of the mining include :

• Release of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas
• Interference with groundwater and water table levels
• Impact of water use on flows of rivers and consequential impact on other land-uses
• Dust
• Subsidence above tunnels, sometimes damaging infrastructure (e.g., roads in the Lake Macquarie area in NSW, Australia).
• Rendering land unfit for the common usage of the area.

[edit] References

• Coal mining inquiry near Wyong [1]
• Residents fear coal dust [2]
• Voters' backlash looms against coal mine [3]
• Coal mining causes adverse environmental impacts. Coal_mining
• Daniel Burns. The modern practice of coal mining (1907)
• Hughes. Herbert W, A Text-Book of Mining: For the Use of Colliery Managers and Others (London, many editions 1892-1917), the standard British textbook for its era.
• James Tonge. The principles and practice of coal mining (1906)
• Charles V. Nielsen and George F. Richardson. 1982 Keystone Coal Industry Manual (1982)
• Hayes, Geoffrey. Coal Mining (2004), 32 pp
• Chirons, Nicholas P. Coal Age Handbook of Coal Surface Mining (ISBN 0-07-011458-7)