WHITEHAVEN’S Werris Creek coal mine is at least partially responsible for the drying-up of farmers’ water bores, and government regulators have failed to hold the company accountable, a University of NSW study has found.
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The study, which has prompted the Department of Primary Industries Water (DPI Water) to commission a review, has been seized upon by farmers campaigning against the Shenhua coal mine.
Doug Anderson, a principal groundwater engineer with the Water Research Laboratory of the University of NSW, said there were multiple problems with the groundwater modelling conducted by Whitehaven and approved by DPI Water at the mine in northern NSW.
These included the drilling of just one deepwater bore – more than two years after an extension of the mine was approved – and locating it to the north end of the mine rather than a more logical site to the south, close to the main farmers’ bores and between the main pit and the nearby Quipolly Creek.
Instead of focusing on the main water-bearing zone at a depth of 142 metres, it is collecting both shallow and deep groundwater between 5 metres and 168 metres.
“You actually don’t know what that well’s monitoring,” Mr Anderson said.
Whitehaven, which has rejected claims for compensation from nearby farmers for their water loss, dismissed Mr Anderson’s study.
Government agencies as recently as July had advised the company “they were satisfied that the water management on site was in compliance with all relevant regulations”, a spokeswoman said.
“Whitehaven continues to maintain, on the basis of its own long-term monitoring, that the onset of drought conditions in 2012, and the fact that rainfall has not kept pace with groundwater extraction for irrigation by surrounding land users since then, are the primary factors implicated in declining groundwater levels in the area.”
Mr Anderson estimated the mine was responsible for at least 25 per cent of the water loss.
A spokesman for DPI Water said it had done regular reviews of water management at the Werris Creek site but had decided to commission an independent report on the UNSW study.
“This is in line with normal procedures and ensures any new developments in science or best-practice water management are considered as part of the ongoing management of the site,” he said.
Susie Lyle, chairwoman of the Caroona Coal Action Group which paid for the UNSW work, said groundwater that had been flowing north to south had reversed due to the mine – something overlooked by regulators.
“If Whitehaven has got a problem like that and blames the drought, why is the water squirting out into the mine?” Ms Lyle said.
Whitehaven had predicted water levels for nearby farmers would drop 10 centimetres; instead they had fallen by 4.5 metres to 15 metres, a sign groundwater interference could also pose a risk to the rich Liverpool Plains farmland where Shenhua plans to dig, she said.
Mr Anderson said the geology of the Werris Creek and Watermark sites was different, but “there a lot of lessons that we’re seeing from what’s happening at Whitehaven”.
