WHITEHAVEN Coal has slammed the actions of environmentalists after protesters swarmed the company’s mine sites yesterday in the biggest action against the controversial Maules Creek operation to date.
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The protest boasted up to 150 people and blocked work at all of Whitehaven’s open-cut mines in the Gunnedah Basin.
The Leard Forest Alliance was quick to proclaim victory on social media, but Whitehaven Coal managing director Paul Flynn said the protests were “silly” and “marginal”.
“The suggestion that today’s protests have ‘shut down’ all our operational and development sites is false, but consistent with grandiose claims made about the impact of protests in the area,” a Whitehaven spokesman said.
By sunrise yesterday, four people had locked themselves to access points at the Maules Creek coalmine, one person had climbed a tripod structure at the Tarrawonga coalmine, with a further three chained across the road, while two people had chained themselves to the access gates at both Rocglen Mine and Gunnedah CHPP.
One man chained himself to a rail line in Newcastle, blocking passage to the world’s largest coal port at Koorarang Island in Newcastle for over an hour.
At the Werris Creek coalmine, two people scaled the coal loader, sat dangling from ropes and unfurled a banner reading: “Coal: Done and Dusted”.
Local ecologist Phil Spark was protesting at the Werris Creek site and said although the company was still digging their coal, they could not load it onto trains due to the two protesters suspended from the coal loader.
He said Werris Creek locals had joined in the fight because they objected to coal dust and the damage caused to buildings from Whitehaven mine blasts.
Leard Forest Alliance spokeswoman Helen War said protestors were calling for the NSW government to conduct a formal review into the Maules Creek approval process, alleging corruption and “dodgy deals”.
“When the legal processes fail, really the last thing the community can do is put their own body on the line,” she said.
“Two of the elderly women arrested today were librarians.”
“They talked about how concerned they were for their grandchildren’s future.
“They’re not radicals, they’re not extremists, they’re people like you and me.”
Mr Flynn told the ABC yesterday there were still “various levels of activity” at each of the mines and said it was no coincidence the protests aligned with university holidays.
“These are fly-in, fly-out protesters,” he said.
“It’s not indicative at all of the community support we enjoy in the area.
“The reality of it is it will only be a marginal impact on us.”
Whitehaven has declined to divulge details of their security measures following the widespread on-site protests, which saw at least six people arrested by local police.