PEABODY ENERGY, HELENSBURGH
Waterways affected: mining leases cover 80% of Woronora Special Area catchment, including Waratah Rivulet, the Eastern Tributary and Woronora Reservoir.
The Metropolitan Mine is one of the oldest coal mines on this continent. It was granted a 23-year expansion approval in 2009, by then-NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally.
Longwalls approved in 2009 are shown in green. Note how these longwalls pass beneath Woronora Reservoir, the large water body in the centre of the image. Image taken from Project Approval, p24 – https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=MP08_0149%2120190708T035505.548%20GMT
Peabody have commenced undermining Woronora Reservoir in October 2021.
Woronora Reservoir supplies water to the Sutherland Shire and northern parts of Wollongong. As a self-contained catchment Woronora is a crucial source of clean water to greater Sydney in times of crisis. Water from Woronora flows to all the way to Penshurst reservoir from where it can be further distributed.
Photographs of subsidence damage to the waterways have been widely published and clearly illustrate the buckling and cracking of stream beds, the staining of rocks, and orange bacterial slime.
In 2022, Camp Gully Creek was heavily polluted by coal tailings from the Metropolitan Mine. Since then, calls for the mine’s licence to be revoked have intensified. You can read more here, and the Sutherland Shire Environment Centre have written an excellent explainer here.
Protect Our Water Alliance 