Mod 8 - Ulan West Continued Operations

I am currently employed at Ulan Coal Mine and fully support the proposed Mod 8 expansion. The project will secure ongoing jobs for local workers, strengthen the regional economy, and make the most of existing mine infrastructure.
Coal mining remains a vital industry for our community, providing reliable employment and contributing significantly to Australia’s energy needs and exports. Ulan has a strong record of safe and responsible operations, and I believe the proposed extension will continue that standard while ensuring long-term stability for local families and businesses.
I strongly support the approval of this modification.

I am currently employed at Ulan Coal Mine and fully support the proposed Mod 8 expansion. The project will secure ongoing jobs for local workers, strengthen the regional economy, and make the most of existing mine infrastructure.
Coal mining remains a vital industry for our community, providing reliable employment and contributing significantly to Australia’s energy needs and exports. Ulan has a strong record of safe and responsible operations, and I believe the proposed extension will continue that standard while ensuring long-term stability for local families and businesses.
I strongly support the approval of this modification.

I am a visitor to the area that the proposed coal mining expansion is in and the reasons I come to the area are associated with the natural environment. With this proposal, there are so many impacts to the environment that are totally unacceptable.

Apart from the overall impact of the production of coal and its burning on global carbon emissions, there are many local impacts that this project brings about. The environmental assessment process for this project is fundamentally flawed as it is not a full assessment which I believe has been enabled by calling the project a "modification" to an existing mining operation.

The cumulative impacts of the entire project and its modifications have not been assessed.

The stand-alone impacts of this part of the project will further damage surface and ground water - highly sensitive and limited resources in this country. Additional tailings which will be placed near a river will risk seepage downstream into the Goulburn National Park. As well as the risk of impacts on water, there will be extensive habitat and species loss which sustain birds and mammals, including the Regent Honeyeater and Koala.

As the project is outside the existing mine boundary and includes disturbance to water, air and land resources, it should be assessed as a new project.

There are a number of social impacts as well, and although the plan outlines mitigation measures for these impacts (Aboriginal cultural sites, private property and water supply, loss of economic inputs such as water to farms) these mitigation measures as outlined in the plan are monitoring measures at best and do not provide any sense that they will be acted upon if necessary.

In closing, there is not need for an extended coal mine in the region, especially in the global context of a warming climate. The government should stick to its strategic aim of managing a transition away from coal mining and find ways to diversify the economy in this area through the pursuit of natural industries which are more in line with what the world needs now.

K2W Link objects to the proposal Mod 8 - Ulan West Continued Operations as it presents too great a risk of major environmental degradation from diversion and pollution of groundwater; the subtraction and interruption to flows on both western flowing catchments and the Goulburn River; the destruction of cultural sites; and social and economic disruption of a transitory industry in an environmentally rich and sensitive region, absent a full assessment of impact. Non-pollluting alternative sources of energy are outperforming on price and efficiency energy derived from thermal carbon; the rapid transition to these new sources means that the projected returns from extraction , and boost to employment will have no lasting effect, and will be curtailed or compromised with an overriding consensus policy on decarbonisation. This will see the region's natural and enduring human assets destroyed to no profit. We support local campaigners, fighting for a future for their valley beyond coal and its harms. Their resolution to turn around such developments, unjustified economically, socially and culturally, and anachronistic in planning terms we share.

I object to the submission for Mod 8- Ulan West Combined Operations on the basis of a number of concerns. These include the fact that it has been lodged as a 'modification' in an attempt to avoid scrutiny. The concerns in relation to impacts of the Ulan Mod 8 expansion include the fact that it extends mining for 6yrs and an additional 43million tonnes of coal. This will result in a massive increase in emissions, adding 105 million tonnes of CO2-e, a 45% increase. The proposal also spans the major catchments of both the Hunter and Murray-Darling basins, threatening water security. The tailings dam is a high risk proposal expanding toxic waste storage near a river and risking seepage downstream into a national park.
The proposal is for clearing 100+ hectares of native vegetation, including 34ha of Box Gum Woodland, impacting threatened species like the Regent Honeyeater and Koala and will result in both habitat and species loss.
The Cultural Heritage Risks are high as the project impacts 71 Aboriginal sites on Wiradjuri Country under a Native Title claim.

I am currently employed at Ulan Coal Mine and I fully endorse the Mod 8 expansion proposal. This development will help maintain secure employment for local workers, boost our regional economy, and make efficient use of the infrastructure already in place at the site.

Coal mining continues to be an essential industry for our community, offering stable jobs and playing an important role in Australia’s energy supply and export markets. Ulan has consistently operated in a safe, responsible and well-managed way, and I am confident the proposed extension will uphold these standards while providing long-term certainty for local families and businesses.

For these reasons, I strongly support the approval of this modification.

1. SCOPE 3 EMISSIONS
Continued export of thermal coal from this project conflicts with Aust govt's commitment to reduce atmospheric CO2, which continues to rise (latest Mauna Loa records) and cause major disasters (currently Jamaica).
2. PRIORITY TO AGICULTURE
This is a LONG-TERM economic activity that must be preserved against avoidable impacts into the future. Existing coal mining at Ulan, and this proposed continuation, are SHORT-TERM activities with know impacts, especially of supply and quality of water, likely to adversely affect adjacent parts of the the Murray-Darling and Hunter agricultural areas. In particular the proposed longwall mining method involves planned SUNSIDENCE that inevitably causes fractures in the overburden that drain SURFACE WATYER FLOWS, taking them out of circulation, as well as contamination of GROUNDWATER FLOWS from this relatively high ground to the lower ground where agriculture is concentrated.

I object to the project on the basis of the loss to biodiversity, ongoing contribution to climate change through the reliance on fossils fuels, loss of cultural identity , and the travesty that is the governments' rhetoric to the public that we need coal for continued economic security. Biodiversity loss is a major global, national and local threat which threatens the stability of our planet and modern human civilization. This major mining proposal would add to the already out of control deforestation of old growth, natural (not re-planted) forests, which would take hundreds of years to re-grow (if even possible). The continued loss of habitat to threatened animal species, iconic to our country, is a disgusting short-term trade off, where only a few people in our society benefit. Continued reliance on coal mining for jobs and supposed economic security (what about the farmers and their families whose livelihoods depend on predictable climate and seasons that we know the burning of coal is making more and more difficult) is simply laziness on behalf of the government to provide a just transition. The loss of cultural heritage for our indigenous people who have already lost so much to the "development" of this country is only another example of Bullying behaviour for those in power. I strongly oppose the "modification 8" as a modification to an existing mine. At the least, this project should have to be subject to all the environmental, cultural checks and assessments that a new mine would need. A sly, underhanded project, trying to slip in as a "modification" is suspiciously like the developers realise that the future of coal is limited. Please stop continuing to lie to communities about the future of this industry and it impacts on our lives.

This project will add several years of additional life to the mine and help ensure Mudgee continues to receive a share of the economic benefits of NSW mining.

The Ulan mining complex is a significant employer of people from the Mudgee and Gulgong community and provides economic benefit to the entire region including through the use of many local contractors. They support the local junior sporting teams and community organisations, including a program to entice doctors to the region, which is much needed.

Ulan Coal employees many local people and supports the local communities in many ways. We need to keep this project going as long as possible so that the communities can reap this support for many more years to come.

Continued local employment. Support for local businesses and suppliers. Supports local charities and not for profit organisations. Continued growth in our local area.
This is not a new mine - an extension of an existing mine.

My submission is attached.

This proposed extension should not be assessed as a modification because it is not substantially the same as the current Mine approvaL. It falls entirely outside the current mining lease and must be considered a new project.
It is an acknowledged fact that no new mining projects should be approved if we are to have any chance of avoiding more catastrophic climate incidents caused by global warming. This "extension" must not be allowed to proceed.

1. Releasing over 105 Mt of additional Greenhouse Gas emissions, poor monitoring and reporting of methane emissions. 2. Outside existing mine boundary with additional infrastructure disturbance - should be assessed as a new project 3. Constructing a large new tailings dam area of 132 ha within a revegetated, rehabilitated old open cut pit next to Goulburn River risking leakage of toxic contaminants 4. Wholly west of Great Dividing Range within the Murray Darling Basin - loss of flows to Talbragar River, tributary of Macquarie River feeding into significant Macquarie Marshes 5. Extended water releases into Goulburn River increasing salt load downstream to Hunter 6. Loss of Aboriginal cultural heritage and spiritual landscape for Wiradjuri Nation – impacting 71 known sites, including rock art 7. Disturbing an additional 1743 ha with sandstone escarpment, caves and overhangs: Destroying additional important habitat for the nationally threatened Large-eared Pied Bat, Eastern Cave Bat, Regent Honeyeater and Koala, critically endangered Box Gum Woodland. Cumulative impact on these species across 3 mines in region. 8. Final layout of surface infrastructure not yet determined – mine plan not finalised 9. Undermining 17 private properties directly impacting 4 houses and 6 private bores 10. Increasing social impacts, loss of farm water and ongoing disturbance of rural way of life 11. This project is not needed to provide regional jobs – there is a huge workforce shortage for renewable energy projects and other industries in the Central West

I believe that enough is enough and that Australians deserve to make better use of OUR resources.
More coal for export must begin to allow better tax systems that allow our resources to fund essential utilities such as education, training and health services in Australia. Until that happens we are giving OUR resources away to countries that continue to pollute the planet that we ALL live on

I say NO to Ulan coal expansion. We have little time to protect habitats, stop coal from being dug and dusting the landscape, our rivers, the sky, with harmful dust then burning coal even overseas, is a climate bomb, waiting to happen.
For the love of nature, our wellbeing, the environment and our health, keep coal in the ground.

As I stated in my last submission re extensions to coal mines. Enough is enough.
I object to the Mod 8 - Ulan West Continued Operations.
Submission (SUB-98838956)
I was under the understanding, that on a national and global level, we are transitioning away from coal for environmental reasons.
If we keep on approving extensions to coal mines, there will be no incentive to research and implement renewable forms of power to replace thermal and coking coal.
I recently returned home from a trip to Hill End via Mudgee , Ulan, and the Hunter Valley. Once North of Mudgee heading toward Ulan, there was a brown/black haze on the horizon. I can't help that think that this haze was dust pollution from the coal mines in this area. These areas are part of our food bowl. Coal dust pollution falling on crops, into our water supplies, being ingested by livestock, is not what produces healthy food.
Not to mention, it being a underground mine, the threat of it disturbing the underground water aquifers and surface water catchments is unacceptable.
The State and Federal governments need to stop relying on coal for income. And not be fearful of taxing the big end of town appropriately. These multinational companies are making a fortune from Australia's finite recourses.
We need to shift away from coal. Not only for Australia's sake, but for the rest of the world. If we continue down the coal road, we will all be burnt to a crisp before the coal runs out.
David Platt.

1. Releasing over 105 Mt of additional Greenhouse Gas emissions, poor monitoring and
reporting of methane emissions.
2. Outside existing mine boundary with additional infrastructure disturbance - should be
assessed as a new project
3. Constructing a large new tailings dam area of 132 ha within a revegetated, rehabilitated
old open cut pit next to Goulburn River risking leakage of toxic contaminants
4. Wholly west of Great Dividing Range within the Murray Darling Basin - loss of flows to
Talbragar River, tributary of Macquarie River feeding into significant Macquarie Marshes
5. Extended water releases into Goulburn River increasing salt load downstream to Hunter
6. Loss of Aboriginal cultural heritage and spiritual landscape for Wiradjuri Nation –
impacting 71 known sites, including rock art
7. Disturbing an additional 1743 ha with sandstone escarpment, caves and overhangs:
Destroying additional important habitat for the nationally threatened Large-eared Pied
Bat, Eastern Cave Bat, Regent Honeyeater and Koala, critically endangered Box Gum
Woodland. Cumulative impact on these species across 3 mines in region.
8. Final layout of surface infrastructure not yet determined – mine plan not finalised
9. Undermining 17 private properties directly impacting 4 houses and 6 private bores
10. Increasing social impacts, loss of farm water and ongoing disturbance of rural way of life
11. This project is not needed to provide regional jobs – there is a huge workforce shortage
for renewable energy projects and other industries in the Central West

Born in Merriwa, I am the child of six generations of Hunter Valley farmers. I am equally staggered and appalled by the blatant disregard the government and the fossil fuel industry have for the food production upon which every Australian relies. You can't eat coal. You can't farm land ravaged by the floods, fires and droughts caused by global warming, either. It should not come as news that the world, and Australia in particular, is in a climate change crisis. Whether or not the government "counts" the emissions from the coal burned by this project, they exist, at the cost of current and future food production. This proposal will release over 105 Mt of additional Greenhouse Gas emissions, with poor monitoring and reporting of methane emissions - a catastrophic addition to Australia's exported carbon emissions.

Further, the proposal extends the mine outside the existing mine boundary with additional infrastructure disturbance and should be
assessed as a new project.

I am gravely concerned by the proposed construction of a large new tailings dam area of 132 ha within a revegetated, rehabilitated old open-cut pit next to the Goulburn River, risking leakage of toxic contaminants. We have numerous precedents of tailing dams polluting water supplies relied upon by farmers and wildlife. This proposed site is entirely west of the Great Dividing Range and is within the Murray-Darling Basin, causing loss of flows to the Talbragar River, a tributary of the Macquarie River, feeding into the significant Macquarie Marshes. The proposal requires extended water releases into the Goulburn River, which will increase the already high salt load downstream to the Hunter. Water is life; we already have huge problems with insufficient supply and salination caused by dirty coal.

The government and miners talk the talk but fail to walk the walk of indigenous partnerships. This proposal will cause significant loss of Aboriginal cultural heritage and spiritual landscape for the Wiradjuri Nation, impacting 71 known sites, including rock art, disturbing an additional 1743 ha with sandstone escarpment, caves and overhangs.

The proposal will destroy additional important habitat for the nationally threatened Large-eared Pied Bat, Eastern Cave Bat, Regent Honeyeater and Koala, and critically endangered Box Gum Woodland. The government must consider the cumulative impact on these species across the three mines in the region.

I note that the final layout of surface infrastructure has not yet been determined, as the mine plan is not finalised; how can approval even be contemplated when we don't know what the project really involves?

There are grave local impacts in this proposal, which will undermine 17 private properties, with four houses and six private bores directly impacted. The proposal will Increase adverse social impacts, causing a loss of farm water and ongoing disturbance of our rural way of life.

This project is not needed to provide regional jobs – there is a huge workforce shortage for renewable energy projects and other industries in the Central West

Australia can't eat coal or the supposed money it generates. We need to preserve our farmland as the foodland upon which Australia and the world rely for our very existence. Coal is in its last gasp of existence. Read the news. Renewables allow farmers to keep doing what we do best, cost less for Australian consumers and are our only hope of meeting Australia's climate obligations.