Raiding our northern rivers

Letter to the Editor, The Northern Star, 10 July 2013:

Raiding our rivers

ON June 26 the NSWLC Standing Committee on State Development published a report Adequacy of water storages in New South Wales.

This report recommended that the NSW Government "review the environmental flow allocations for all valleys in New South Wales and make representations to the Commonwealth Government for it to review the environmental flow allocations for all valleys in New South Wales in relation to the Murray Darling Basin Plan" and told the government that "the priority given to environmental needs above water supply to industry and high security needs in regulated rivers under the Water Management Act 2000 is not sufficiently balanced" and recommended that it change this act to prioritise these other needs above environmental needs.

The committee that produced this report was dominated by the Liberal-Nationals Coalition and its oft-times ally, the Christian Democratic Party, so it should come as no surprise that the advice received by the O'Farrell Government heavily favours the interests of both irrigators in the Murray-Darling Basin and the mining industry as it does not rule out damming and diverting water from the Northern Rivers to feed the insatiable water hunger of these two groups.

It is a general rule of thumb that it requires 1 to 2 tonnes of water to process 1 tonne of mined ore (USGS, 2012) and an individual coal seam gas well can require up to 1 million litres of drilling water (Metgasco, January 2013).

Irrigation water for crops can range from 2 to 5.5 million litres per hectare as a minimum to bring a crop to maturity in this state (NSW Dept Primary Industry, 2009).

The amount of water that would have to be drawn from the Clarence River systems to meet even part of what these two groups desire would potentially impact on the health of local rivers, local water security, local agriculture, local economies dependant on the fishing industry and tourism industries and the social and cultural life of local communities.

The Tweed and Richmond valley communities would possibly have similar concerns.
It would be useless to look to the North Coast Nationals to protect Northern Rivers interests, as the NSW National Party has never walked away from its 2008 state conference resolution to "support greater efforts to reduce the amount of eastern water lost to the ocean and campaign for more in-depth investigations into finding ways to turn this water inland" (My Daily News online, June 16, 2008).

It would also be useless to look to the Liberal Party to protect our interests, as the Upper House committee's recommendations echo the 2007 Howard-Turnbull push to dam and divert fresh water from the Clarence River catchment area and, the current Federal Opposition favours a "100 dams" plan according to a leaked draft discussion paper which makes mention of the Clarence and Mann rivers (The Daily Examiner, February 14, 2013).

Once again the Northern Rivers region is going to have to rely on its own community resources and lobbying abilities to combat any attempt to raid our river systems.

Now is the time to organise and act.

Judith M Melville

Yamba

Anchor Resources extends its mining exploration footprint within the Clarence River catchment area

Chinese-owned mining exploration company Anchor Resources Limited has extended its mineral tenements within the Dorrigo Plateau-Clarence River catchment area.

In June 2013 the NSW O’Farrell Coalition Government granted a further three-year exploration lease EL 8100 which connects those gold and antimony tenements the company has already extensively explored. 

This increased footprint comes with an increased risk of antimony, arsenic, and/or mercury contamination in a sensitive section of the catchment should the proposed commercial mines come to fruition.

Australian Government National Pollutant Inventory:

Both mercury and its compounds have high acute(short-term) and have high chronic (long-term) toxicity on aquatic life. Eating fish contaminated with mercury has caused poisoning in humans; birds and land animals exposed in the same manner could also be subject to the same effects.There is not sufficient data to determine the acute toxicity of mercury and its compounds on plants, birds or land animals. Mercury and its compounds are highly persistent in water and the environment and will bioaccumulate or concentrate in the tissues of fish. These concentrations will be considerably higher than the water from which the fish is taken.

NSWLC Standing Committee On State Development's Inquiry Into The Adequacy Of Water Storages In NSW, 20 August 2012 hearing

The Play:

The future of water storage in New South Wales

The Sub-Plot:

That National Party fixation with the Clarence River

The Scene:

Enter from stage right NSW Nationals MLC PETER R. PHELPS. Followed by DAVID ANDREW HARRISS, Commissioner, NSW Office of Water, Department of Primary Industries and, STEWART RICHARD WEBSTER, Principal Director, Investment Appraisal, Statistical Analysis and Economic Research, NSW Trade and Investment

From the hearing transcript:

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS: Are there any rivers in northern New South Wales which sow significant outflows of fresh water to the sea which could be used for damming purposes?

Mr HARRISS: The only one that has been investigated over many years was the Clarence River and that has been shown that it would be both uneconomic and have significant environmental impacts as a consequence. One of the things that have been demonstrated for years is coastal diversions. It is all right in the Snarly because you have quite a substantial catchment area and you have a number of sites for dams—Jindabyne, Eucumbene, Talbingo, Bowen. In the coastal ranges further north around the Clarence to get that catchment area to fill the dam you have to have the dam located further down to get enough water so it cannot be at the top. Further down you locate that dam, the higher the pumping cost to get the water back over the top or the tunnelling cost to get it through the dam. For that reason it has shown that it would not be economically beneficial to construct a dam to divert water from the coastal side into the western side because there would be no activity currently which would generate revenue on the megalitre of water……..

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS: Presumably, given what Mr Harriss said earlier about us having dammed every river in New South Wales that it is economically viable to dam, those proposals would be only catchment augmentation.

Mr WEBSTER: What was economically viable 30 years ago might not be now because the value of water changes as an input into various primary production processes. While it appears that the large storage sites have been taken, there may be opportunities.

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS: Just not on the Clarence River.

Mr HARRISS: There are opportunities on the Clarence River. What was proposed during the drought—and Malcolm Turnbull promoted it—was to build that dam but then to pipe the water up to south-west Queensland, not to move it into western New South Wales, which was the original proposal. That might have been a bit more economically viable if we were recovering the cost through urban population charges as opposed to the rate charged per kilolitre. However, Queensland was not remotely interested in that. There are some sites, and we mentioned Birrell Creek dam, which is not a big site. There is also the Welcome Reef site near Braidwood. That proposal has been around for about 40 or 50 years. There are some sites. However, the point was made that where it was easy to build a dam 50 or 60—

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS: So the low hanging fruit is gone.

Mr HARRISS: Yes.

Community concern over Anchor Resources mining plans in Clarence Catchment high country not going away

The Coffs Coast Advocate 21 February 2012:

CONCERN is growing in the tiny town of Tyringham on the Dorrigo plateau as 96% Chinese-owned Anchor Resources continues its exploratory drilling programs.

Tyringham resident Kathy Realph said with the plateau identified as a 'refuge' for wildlife already under threat from climate change, mining on the plateau would be devastating.

"We simply do not understand how Anchor can have a licence for a prospective site adjacent to the Mt Hyland Nature Reserve," Mrs Realph said.

She said the plateau was also located in the overlap zone of the New England Tablelands and the NSW North Coast bioregion, making it an area of higher biodiversity value than if either region were considered individually.

"This area is recognised internationally as a biodiversity hotspot".

Those campaigning against mining on the plateau have the support of Coffs Harbour City councillor Mark Graham, who has warned of the possible contamination of waterways.

"There are more than 100,000 people who receive water from this catchment under the Coffs Clarence Regional Water Supply," Mr Graham said.

"Toxins known from the orebodies on the Dorrigo Plateau that Anchor is seeking to mine include arsenic, antimony, mercury and lead, all are a threat to human health. Mining of these orebodies will endanger our watersupply and the health of the Clarence River."

Another resident, Ian Realph, highlighted the additional problem of huge economic losses to fisheries and tourism, should waterways become contaminated.

"Of course when Anchor talks to the community they will tell us that safeguards will be put in place and world's best practice will be employed but those same assurances were given by Exon Valdez and also Deep Water Horizon," Mr Realph said.

"We already have contamination issues in the Upper Macleay, Urunga Lagoon and the Mole River near Tenterfield."

In January Anchor Resources was fined $2500 for not rehabilitating land as required by law.

Anchor Resources fails to remediate Wild Cattle Creek test drill sites and is fined

Click on image to enlarge

Snapshot of Anchor Resources Ltd report to the Australian Stock Exchange
published 17 January 2012

When the China Shandong Jinshunda Group acquired this Australian registered mining exploration company it apparently did not immediately react to the evidence of its own site inspections or act on landholder complaint/s.

It was served with a notice to remediate certain test drilling sites in its Wild Cattle Creek lease area by the NSW Department of Trade & Investment Resources & Energy and fined $2,500.

Antimony becomes a dirty word on the NSW North Coast

ABC Mid North Coast News 2 December 2011:

A community alliance has been formed to oppose antimony mining on the Dorrigo Plateau.

The group is working to stop the reopening of the old Wild Cattle Creek near Bielsdown.

The alliance says the Anchor Resources plan could lead to pollution in the headwaters of the Nymboida River which feeds the Coffs-Clarence public water supply.

Coffs councillor Mark Graham says recent stormwater overflows from the old Hillgrove mine on the plateau highlight concerns.

"These are essentially pristine headwaters areas, which provide drinking and good clean water important for many of the industries in our region," he said.

"We've seen in our Macleay River, major contamination because of the mining at Hillgrove.

"We need to learn lessons from that and avoid making these mistakes again."

Cr Graham says the community is determined to be heard.

"The determining authority for mining application is state and in some instances the Commonwealth Government," he said.

"Community groups have aligned and formed together in an alliance to oppose mining on the Dorrigo Plateau."

The Daily Examiner 1 December 2011:

Chinese-owned Anchor Resources holds a licence to explore the Bielsdown site, but no approval has been issued for mining.

Groups including Dorrigo Environment Watch, Antimony Action, NSW Greens and North Coast Voices fear that any mining activity in the high-rainfall area could lead to contamination of the Clarence/Coffs Harbour water supply.

"The effects of antimony poisoning are similar to arsenic poisoning," a Greens statement on the issue said. "In small doses, antimony causes headaches, dizziness and depression.

"Larger doses damage the kidneys and the liver, causing violent and frequent vomiting and will lead to death within a few days; otherwise skin contact causes dermatitis."

The ABC's 7.30 Report covered the story about prior Hillgrove spills, their impact and the Wild Cattle Creek plans in October.

ABC Mid North Coast News 29 November 2011:

There has been another heavy metal spill into the Macleay River from a gold and antimony mine in the upper catchment.

Heavy rain over the weekend caused an overflow from a stormwater dam at the Hillgrove mine near Armidale.

The Kempsey council's infrastructure manager, Robert Scott, says the contamination sounds worse than it actually is.

He says the rain caused the spill but it also helped dilute it.

"At the moment the dams in the Hillgrove mine, because they've received around about 290mm of rainfall for the month of November alone, are full, they are discharging," he said.

"We are seeing a massive dilution factor as a result of the overall flow that's coming off the New England Tablelands at the moment, which has resulted in relatively low levels of discharge directly from the mine."

However, conservationists are worried about the latest spill into the Upper Macleay.

Coffs Harbour Greens' councillor Mark Graham says the spill in the region's drinking water catchment should be grounds for concern.

"I think that all the evidence is that the river is contaminated by mining practices and it's not just the historic mining practices," he said.

"The owners of the Hillgrove mine, Straits Mining, were recently fined $50,000 in the Land and Environment Court for ongoing contamination to the headwaters of the Macleay.

"These mines are creating ongoing contamination for the catchment.

North Coast Voices 30 November 2011:

No Antimony Mine on the Dorrigo Plateau - get your bumper stickers now

The bumper stickers are available from Kombu Wholefoods in Bellingen, The Happy Frog in Coffs Harbour, The Clarence Environment Centre in South Grafton, Sawtell Paradise Fruit, The Sawtell Newsagency, Hickory Wholefoods in Dorrigo, Dorrigo Environment Watch Inc., Antimony Action and local NSW Greens groups.

Further information about the proposed reopening of the mine and about the dangers of antimony mining in high rainfall areas is available at
http://www.dorrigoenvironmentwatch.org.au/index.html  

North Coast Voices 17 November 2011:

Just to remind our elected representatives in all three tiers of government that mercury and arsenic have consequences, here is a media report from New Zealand this month as one small community struggles with the reality of soil contamination from arsenic laden mine tailings dumped during the last century:

The Ministry of Health advises Moanataiari residents to:
- Take care with personal hygiene (i.e. hand washing after handling soil);
- Make sure children don't eat or play in soil;
- Remove footwear before going indoors to avoid carrying soil dust indoors - particularly for households with very young children;
- Cover soil (e.g. grassing, paving, gravel) to reduce dust and direct access by young children;
- Not to eat home grown fruit and vegetables, especially young children, until further quantification of the contamination is available and the risk can be assessed, unless it is known that the garden soil is clean fill. If you choose to eat home grown fruit and vegetables, then thoroughly wash produce that may be contaminated with soil, and peel the skin off root vegetables;
- Don't be concerned about the drinking water supply, it is separate (and safe);
- As always, if unwell for any reason, see your doctor.

21-22 October 2011 media coverage of NSW North Coast antimony contamination risks

The ABC TV program 7.30 NSW aired graphic footage of existing antimony contamination and canvassed the risks of reopening an old Wild Cattle Creek antimony mine in the Clarence River catchment.

It can be viewed here:

http://www.abc.net.au

The Sydney Morning Herald also addressed the issue of historic and recent contamination from the Hillgrove antimony mine:

A PLUME of toxic pollution from an old antimony mine appears to have killed fish for dozens of kilometres along the Macleay River in northern NSW.....
a study published by the CSIRO in 2009 described the waterways near the mothballed mine as ''highly contaminated'' and estimated about 7000 tonnes of waste had accumulated along the bed of the Macleay River.
Water tests have shown antimony levels at 250 times background levels, with high levels detected along the river to the coast at Urunga, where the mineral was once processed for export.

The ABC program is remarkable for its vivid illustration of the incompetence of the current NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker and, her willingness to utter untruths.

All that glitters is not gold

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 20 October 2011:

I read with interest The Daily Examiner article “Our Valley of riches: Miners homing in on billion-dollar resources” on 10 October 2011.

The fact that “Red Sky Energy has also signaled to investors that it envisages gross revenues of $4 billion from its Clarence Moreton Project”, that on today’s gold prices Centius Gold could realize “$2.3 billion in revenues” and, that Anchor Resources is progressing towards re-opening old workings during a period of record antimony metal prices, might lead one to suppose that the NSW Treasury along with communities on the Dorrigo Plateau and in the Bellingen, Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley local government areas might see a hefty financial benefit from all this commercial activity.

This is far from the reality of the modern mining industry in Australia.

Not only will the number of mining jobs be small, as Anchor Resources’ admission that it is only looking to create 60 positions to last less than ten years clearly demonstrates, but the bulk of mining profits derived from the projected shaft and open-cut mining may never see taxation applied.

So adding little to the O’Farrell Government coffers and thereby giving even less to NSW residents by way of government resources.

In the case of coal seam gas mining specifically, the NSW Government has granted a five year moratorium on the payment of mining royalties [NSW Dept. of Primary Industries,2011]. In that matter of gold mining, it will be exempt from the federal proposed mineral resources rent tax no matter how large the profits of individual companies [SMH 28.09.11].

As for mining generally; in 2007-08 Australian Taxation Office statistics recorded 4,290 mining companies having combined incomes which totaled $160,323,192,189, which in turn had combined taxable incomes of $29,010,243,407 and net tax actually paid was $8,068,463,15 after all allowed deductions had been made. Mining royalty payments made in that financial year added up to a tax deductible $3,924,902,975.

Of these 4,290 mining companies, there were some who paid no tax at all and these comprised 68.3 per cent of all mining companies. Which means only around 1,360 mining companies Australia-wide paid tax in that year.

How did they do that? Well, there are at least 20 deductions, rebates, concessions, exemptions, offsets etc., available to the mining industry and their combined value is literally worth billions. In 2007-08 the industry total for expenses claimed under R&D concessions alone was $2,508,321,897 and immediate deduction for capital expenditure $3,785,347,506.

It is worth noting that in 2007 the Business Council of Australia in “Tax Nation” stated: "Taxes collected are negative for the mining industry group because as major exporters survey participants reported a significant GST refund which more than offset other taxes collected." [www.bca.com.au]

In other words, from all these billions of dollars quarried from mining ventures on the NSW North Coast state government and taxpayers are likely to receive nothing or next to nothing once annual tax returns are lodged.

A state of affairs all candidates in the forthcoming Clarence by-election might like to consider before deciding on what policy position they will take in relation to mining in the environmentally sensitive Nymboida River section of the wider Clarence River catchment area.

JUDITH M. MELVILLE 
     

The Daily Examiner editor leads the way on local media questioning proposed antimony mine

Photograph of rainforest on the Dorrigo Plateau
taken from
Rain, runoff and rare metals – the toxic threat to the Dorrigo Plateau
Karl Vernes Senior Lecturer,
School of Environmental & Rural Science at University of New England

The Daily Examiner Comment article by editor David Bancroft 12 October 2011 Page 10:

Digging up dirt on mine  

“The spill occurred after continued wet weather produced excess stormwater which exceeded the amount of water that could be stored in the dam.”

THE NSW Minister for Finance, Greg Pearce, may have inadvertently rung an enormous alarm bell for Clarence Valley residents with comments last month about the Hillgrove antimony mine, east of Armidale.

Mr Pearce, who represents the environment minister in the Upper House, was asked by Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham what the government was doing to ensure a proposed antimony mine at Wild Cattle Creek did not pollute the Nymboida River.

Mr Buckingham said there had been evidence of contamination from the Hillgrove mine and wanted to know what was being done to prevent contamination of the Nymboida or further contamination of the Macleay from the existing pollution.

Mr Pearce initially shrugged off the question, suggesting he didn’t understand what Mr Buckingham was asking.

But later he returned and said: “The Office of Environment and Heritage was notified that stormwater was overflowing from a dam at the Hillgrove mine, east of Armidale, at 11.45am on Monday, August 29, 2011. The mine is currently not operating but is in care-and-maintenance mode. The spill occurred after continued wet weather produced excess stormwater which exceeded the amount of water that could be stored in the dam.”

“I am advised that historic mining from more than 100 years ago and erosion of highly mineralised soils have deposited a plume of material containing heavy metals in the river system from the Hillgrove area to the Pacific Ocean, an area of approximately 200km. That is quite a plume. I am further advised that the plume will continue to release elevated levels of heavy metals through physical, biological and chemical processes for millennia.”

Mr Pearce, we want absolute guarantees there will be no leaching of toxins into the Nymboida and subsequently the Clarence, and if that means no mining, so be it.

O'Farrell Government shows open contempt towards NSW North Coast communities

Living in regional New South Wales often leads one to suspect that any state government of the day and its minsters rarely display an understanding of (or empathy with)  the aspirations, problems or concerns of distant local communities.

This was clearly demonstrated when a question raising concerns on behalf of residents and ratepayers living on the NSW North Coast in the Dorrigo, Belligen, Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley districts was put to the Coalition Government in the NSW Legislative Council last month.

Highlighted below the contemptuous, party-politics-before-people response which was given by the O’Farrell Government:

The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: My question is directed to the Minister for Finance and Services, representing the Minister for the Environment. I thank the Minister for his detailed answer previously revealing that the Macleay River has been contaminated by the Hillgrove antimony mine for millennia—which is thousands of years, in case he does not remember. Ancoa has a proposal to reopen the Hillgrove antimony mine responsible for much of this contamination. Anchor Resources plans a new antimony mine at Wild Cattle Creek at the top of the Nymboida River. Given the toxicity of antimony and history of contamination, what is the Government doing to ensure that these mines will not further contaminate the Macleay River and contaminate the Nymboida River?

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: Last week I commented upon the member's North Korean controller and the need to translate his questions from Korean to code, then from code to Korean, and then from Korean to English. I said that his questions are garbled. If anyone could make sense of that question, I invite them to answer it for me. I could not follow it at all—I really could not. I invite the member to put the question on notice to get a detailed answer.

[NSW Parliament, Hansard,14 September 2011]

Mining at what price?

The Daily Examiner Editor, David Bancroft, on 28 September 2011:

IT'S going to take a lot more than the 60 jobs the Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker tips would come to the region from mining in the headwaters of the Nymboida River to convince people it is a risk worth taking.

While states like Western Australia and Queensland are riding high on the economic benefits mining has brought there, it is tempting for other governments - at all levels and of all persuasions - to want to cash in on the act.

But before we open our doors to the miners we need to be fully aware of what we are potentially letting ourselves in for.

The 60 jobs are unlikely to be based in the Clarence. They are more likely where the mining is occurring in the Dorrigo area and will probably be serviced from Coffs Harbour or the metropolitan areas.

So the economic and employment benefits to the Clarence are likely to be incidental at best.

And they are not likely to last long.

These positions are finite and might last only a couple of years - perhaps less.

Then there are the risks.

Gold and antimony mining both have serious environmental risks and, if there was to be a spill it would be the industries of the Clarence that would be hit the hardest.

In short, the scenario seems to be there are likely to be few benefits but plenty of risks for the Clarence.

By all means we should explore anything that will provide employment, but we should not do that with our eyes closed to the possible dangers that might present.

Will the O'Farrell Government protect local government investment in NSW North Coast sustainable urban water infrastructure?

There are ninety kilometres (90 km) of underground pipelines linking the Nymboida River with the Shannon Creek Dam in the Clarence Valley, the Rushforth Road Reservoir at South Grafton and the Karangi Dam near Coffs Harbour.  The combined value of this infrastructure to Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour local government has been estimated at $200 million.

On 18 July 2011 The Coffs Coast Advocate reported Coffs Harbour City Cr. Mark Graham as stating:

…he had inspected a site on Wild Cattle Creek where Anchor Resources was exploring for antimony and there were already large plumes of antimony which could leach into Wild Cattle Creek and into the Nymboida River.

“There is a massive plume washing from the exploration site into the headwaters of our drinking water catchment,… There is a great need to protect the catchment of the regional water supply and our collective investment of about $200 million"

If these plumes are as reported, then the China Shandong Jinshunda Group Co Ltd through its Australian mining exploration arm, Anchor Resources Ltd, is placing local government investment, an urban water supply (which supports an estimated 3 million residents and visitors/tourists each quarter across Clarence Valley-Coffs Harbour regions) and, a high-value natural environment, at risk even before antimony mining and processing has begun.

According to a report commissioned by Clarence Valley Council in 2008; On average, domestic overnight visitors spent $118 per night, International overnight visitors spent $76 per night and domestic day trippers spent $80 per trip.

Will NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Resources and Energy Chris Hartcher ignore potential risks to the interests of Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast communities in order to facilitate the interests of this international mining corporation?