WHITEHAVEN Coal has hit back at a University of NSW study which found the Werris Creek mine was partially responsible for drying up farmers’ water bores, saying the study isn’t credible.
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Doug Anderson of the University of NSW found the coal mine was responsible for at least 25 per cent of underground water losses of between 4.5 and 15 metres, despite a predicted drop of only 10 centimetres.
Whitehaven said Mr Anderson’s work was commissioned by local landholders and the Caroona Coal Action Group – a group that has been using the water concerns at Werris Creek in a campaign against the proposed Shenhua mine on the Liverpool Plains.
Whitehaven Coal managing director Paul Flynn said that, for this reason, the study wasn’t credible.
“It’s not really a report as such; it’s really a memo he’s prepared for the Caroona Coal Action Group,” Mr Flynn said.
“I’m not quite sure how he’s gone about his work, because he’s certainly not done any field work. It looks like a bit of a desktop review, from what I can gather.
“It’s a little bit hard to see how he’s actually got to the place he’s got to, as far as his conclusions go, given the paucity of work that’s been behind it.”
In a company statement, Whitehaven refuted the “claim that the depletion of bores being reported anecdotally by some local landholders and others is in any way related to the workings of the mine”.
“The geology of aquifers and groundwater systems around the Werris Creek mine and Whitehaven’s own monitoring suggests that the onset of drought conditions in 2012, and rainfall recharge not keeping pace with groundwater extraction for surrounding uses not related to mining, are the major factors implicated in declining water levels,” a Whitehaven spokesperson said.
“Groundwater seepage into mine pits is a normal and anticipated aspect of open cut mining operations – this is why the Werris Creek mine has a water access licence allowing for the interception of up to 211 million litres of groundwater per year.
“The mine is well within this approved limit and is using less than half of its quota.”
Mr Flynn said he hadn’t been informed of any action to be taken by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Water, but he’d welcome a review.
“I’m not concerned at all about DPI conducting their own review of his report,” he said.
“DPI has been intimately involved with the operations of Werris Creek since it commenced and water management has been reviewed on site some 20 times in the life of the mine – as recently as July this year.”
Whitehaven said it had written to New England MP Barnaby Joyce “as a matter of urgency” to outline its serious concerns about the recent public comments made about water management at the Werris Creek mine in more detail.