Bubbling up … methane is emerging in the Waratah Rivulet.

METHANE is bubbling up through one of the key rivers in Sydney’s drinking water catchment, after a coalmine cracked the rock underneath it.

The flammable gas is emerging in the Waratah Rivulet, east of Campbelltown, above a longwall mine operated by a subsidiary of Peabody Energy, the world’s biggest coal company.

The ground under the river has tilted and cracked as a result of the mine, causing methane trapped between rock strata to leak out.

”It will probably take three to four months to stop,” a spokeswoman for Peabody, Jennifer Morgan, said. ”Look, this is a completely natural occurrence in the vicinity of coalmines.

”There is no toxicity and we are sure we are in compliance with our environmental requirements. We are monitoring it closely.”

The leak was reported by the Sydney Catchment Authority, which manages the land above the mine. Catchment authority officers visited the site last week, in the company of environmentalists and a scientist.

They photographed methane bubbling to the surface and large blooms of brightly-coloured algae in the stagnant water.

The chief executive of the authority, Michael Bullen, said the group recorded methane bubbling up at various points, surface cracking, iron staining and discoloured water above the mine, but said there was no risk to human health and little likelihood of large algal blooms downstream in the Woronora Reservoir.

“The SCA is working closely with the Department of Planning to address the issues identified,” he said. It had also written to Peabody Energy seeking further information.

A Total Environment Centre spokesman, Dave Burgess, said the methane plume was obvious from the bank of the river.

”It’s outrageous that, six years after the rivulet was first damaged by coalmining, this damage continues to happen,” Mr Burgess said. ”We’d like to see a trigger mechanism where mining stops when damage reaches an unacceptable level.”

A two-kilometre stretch of the Waratah Rivulet ran dry six years ago when drought combined with cracking of the river bed, upstream from the site of the current methane leaks.

Longwall mining, which cuts broad horizontal slices of coal from about 500 metres underground, caused major cracking in bedrock beneath the river.

In a novel attempt to repair damage, Peabody is glueing the broken river back together using polyurethane resin to fill cracks between the shattered rocks.

”It’s probably about six months behind schedule … but that is purely because there has been a lot of heavy rain and the river has been flowing,” Ms Morgan said. ”But it shows we are serious about fixing any damage.”

Central Coast Express Advocate
4th March 2011

ABC News Online
4th March 2011

The New South Wales Government has refused permission for a $600 million coal mine in a key central coast electorate.

Mining firm Kores, which is owned by the South Korean Government, had planned to extract 5 million tonnes of coal a year from the Wallarah 2 mine, near Wyong.

The long wall mine was also expected to employ 300 people.

Planning Minister Tony Kelly says water and subsidence issues led to his refusal.

“The Planning Assessment Commission had suggested it could go ahead with a significant number of conditions that could be worked out later on, and I believe there were too many uncertainties,” Mr Kelly said.

Alan Hayes from the Australian Coal Alliance says locals were united in their resistance, from the Wyong Council to businesses and residents.

“I think there will be champagne corks popping today,” Mr Hayes said.

Wyong’s sitting Labor MP David Harris had objected to the mine, while the State Opposition had promised to block it.

Labor holds the seat by a margin of 6.9 per cent over the Liberal Party.

Mr Kelly’s decision to refuse permission comes just two days after he moved in favour of the Barangaroo development in central Sydney.

The minister issued an order of Wednesday that weakens a legal challenge to the project in the state’s Land and Environment Court.