Climate Change

Send BHP a powerful message today: stop the expansion of Caval Ridge Coal Mine until 2055!
The science is clear, we cannot afford any new or expanding fossil fuel projects!

Submission close September 29th at 4pm.

Send BHP a powerful message today: stop the expansion of Caval Ridge Coal Mine until 2055!
The science is clear, we cannot afford any new or expanding fossil fuel projects!

Submission close September 29th at 4pm.

Caval Ridge Mine Horse Pit Extension Comment

147 emails sent

Where do you live?

Compose your email

Name

Email

Phone

Invalid phone number

Subject:

EPBC Submissions
BMA Alliance Coal Operations Pty Limited
GPO Box 1389, Brisbane QLD 4001

Dear BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
 
Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on the proposed extension of the Horse Pit at the Caval Ridge Coal Mine (the Project).
 
I have significant concerns about how any new and expanding coal mines can be consistent with meeting legislated environmental and emission reduction targets.  I believe this Project should be refused as it provides a significant threat to the environment which cannot be mitigated and no offsets will make up for the damage the mine will cause.  I have concerns relating to the impacts of Climate Change, Impacts to threatened species and communities,  Impacts on Ground and Surface Water & the Impacts on the Final Landform. I have outlined my concerns in more detail below:
 
Climate Change
- The Project is estimated to result in over 440 million tonnes of CO2.  This is a significant contribution to current emissions from Queensland’s fossil fuel, energy and industry sectors and it will lead to accelerated climate change at a time when the world is committed to trying to halt any further global warming.
- There is no assessment of the impacts of the greenhouse gas emissions or the impacts of the emissions on how these align with national emission reduction targets or BMA’s operational emission reduction targets.  
 
Threatened species and communities
- The project will impact on the threatened ornamental snake, squatter pigeon, king bluegrass and brigalow vegetation communities.  These are threatened species that have already been significantly impacted by coal mines in the Bowen Basin.
- Significant populations of koalas and greater gliders have been recorded in previous surveys in the Project area, but they were not recorded in the recent surveys.  It seems that they have become locally extinct due to the expansion of coal mines in the Moranbah area. 
- The koala and greater glider have recently been reclassified as endangered due to ongoing habitat clearing and the impacts of climate change.  The approval of new and expanding coal mines will only see more fauna species be added to the endangered list unless appropriate controls are implemented to prevent the loss of habitat and ensure that emissions are rapidly reduced.
 
Impacts on Ground and Surface Water
- The Project proposes to release mine-affected water into Cherwell Creek. 
- During significant rainfall events uncontrolled spills from dams containing mine-affected water into Horse, Caval, Cherwell and Nine Mile creeks may also occur. 
- These releases will change water quality in the receiving environment which may impact on environmentally significant aquatic species such as the white-throated snapping turtle and the Fitzroy River turtle.  The Isaac River alluvium stygofauna are also likely to be impacted.
- The Project lies within the Fitzroy River Basin - the largest catchment of water entering the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.  
- The cumulative impacts of mine-affected water from the growing area of coal mines on water quality entering the Reef must be considered.
 
The Final Landform
- The Project proposes to leave a final mine void of approximately 545 hectares, representing over half of the proposed disturbance area. 
- Given the mine will impact on large areas of threatened species habitat, I consider that this level of rehabilitation is unacceptable.
- Your modelling also suggests that there will be a significant increase in water salinity in this huge mine void which is likely to lead to the water in the void being unsuitable for livestock or agriculture. 
- This does not meet best practice or even leading practice in mine rehabilitation and it is clear that you have placed economic gain as more important than the protection of the local environment, water quality in the Great Barrier Reef catchment and inter-generational equity. 
 
I urge you to demonstrate how this project aligns with environmental and climate legislation, particularly in relation to the matters raised in this submission.

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.
All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?