This is the assessment of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in its published response to the two coal mining Environmental Assessment reports lodged in April this year.

Rio Tinto, owner of the two mines, was quick to praise the work of the department.

Coal Australia managing director Chris Salisbury said the recommendation for approval was a much-needed step towards securing a long-term future for Mt Thorley Warkworth Mine and its workforce of 1300 people.

But, for those who have battled the mine expansion for a number of years their response was one of bitter disappointment.

Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association (BMPA) spokesman John Krey said the department’s assessment meant the village and community of Bulga would be sacrificed for the coal industry.

One thing both sides of the debate will agree on is the need for Rio Tinto to guarantee the 1300 jobs should the projects be finally approved.

“Rio Tinto has said from day one the projects are all about protecting jobs, so we want the company to guarantee not one single worker will lose their job for the life of the mine lease,” Mr Krey said.

“One only has to look at BHP Billiton where once their Mt Arthur mine received approval for expansion it started to sack workers.”

The Warkworth Continuation Project will extend the life of the existing open cut mine for a further 21 years and extract 230 million tonnes of coal. 

At the smaller Mt Thorley project, 29m tonnes of coal will be extracted but its main role is to provide a place for the overburden from Warkworth mine to be dumped. 

Warkworth expansion plans started back in 2010 and they were first approved in 2012 before a successful appeal by BMPA in the NSW  Land and Environment Court where is Chief Justice Brian Preston rejected the project .

Rio Tinto appealed this decision in the NSW Court of Appeal but it was dismissed in April this year with the court upholding the original Land and Environment Court decision.

According to the department’s assessment report on the latest project, it is a modified version of the extension project which seeks to address the issues raised in the Court’s (Land and Environment) judgement on the Warkworth Extension Project.

Listing the projects’ benefits, the department says it will continue direct employment for 1300 mine workers, increase direct and indirect spending in the region with a capital expenditure of around $715 million, generate $567 million in royalties for the state government and provide a net economic benefit to NSW of $1.34 billion.

ON the negative side, NSW Department of Planning and Environment says the project would increase the dust, noise, blasting and visual impacts of the existing Warkworth mine.

“These impacts, combined with the impacts of other mining operations in the region, would increase the intensity of mining impacts on some privately-owned rural properties in the vicinity, particularly in the village of Bulga,” the report states.

Of particular note is the size of Warkworth’s final void 950 hectares and 300 metres in depth, with the report saying that modeling indicates that water level in the void would recover slowly and reach equilibrium approximately 1000 years post mining.

A Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said: “The new proposal allows only one space where mining activity took place to remain, as opposed to the two allowed under the current approvals.”

In its interim assessment report, the Department of Planning and Environment recommends that the proponent be required to investigate options for reducing the size prior to the application being determined. 

Commenting on the final void, Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association (BMPA) spokesman John Krey said it would become Singleton’s very own Dead Sea.

“And the department has not demanded that the company has to fully rehabilitate the site because the company simply says it’s too hard,” he said.

Mr Krey also questioned how the department could fully assess a 700-page document from Rio Tinto regarding the two projects in five working days.

“Not only did the department assess the Rio Tinto submission in that time it also made 100 recommendations and 70 conditions on the projects,” he said.

“We think that proves beyond any doubt how closely the department was working with this mining company whereas for the Bulga Optimisation project the department took 15-16 months to achieve the same outcome.”

The two projects have now been referred to the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) for their review, with public hearings set down to take place in Singleton on Thursday, December 18  - almost 12 months to the day when PAC was in town for the Warkworth Modification 6 hearings.