Coal News No. 17
Over the last few years, Solid Energy (SE) has produced two lengthy environmental plans - one for the proposed Cypress Mine in Happy Valley, the other for 4 West at Stockton.
4 West is underway now. It is largely covered by consents granted many years ago. However, SE does have to apply for 4 water consents and these have not yet been granted. SE states in its Assessment of Environmental Effects for 4 West that it will begin mining without effective waste water treatment, since it needs the high quality coal from this area to "avoid significant impacts on its business".
Mining, while still polluting, is typical SE behaviour. They put out heaps of propaganda to convince the public they have changed their spots. But in reality, there's little change.
To make it difficult for us to monitor the mines, SE have banned Forest & Bird from Stockton. I'm also banned in my personal capacity, which means I can't get to Stockton under my other hats – like my membership of Buller Conservation Group and Ngakawau Riverwatch.
One thing I can monitor is the state of the Mangatini Stream, which drains many of the Stockton mines and will take dirty water from 4 West. When I saw the Mangatini two days ago it was at medium flow and absolutely filthy – the volumes of coal fines and other sediments is vast. You can imagine it being possible to remove these pollutants and neutralise the acid and dissolved metals when the stream is at low flows. But doing it for medium to high flows is a mammoth task.
SE's plans for 4 West include a large dam and water treatment plant on the Mangatini Stream. The idea is that most sediments will settle in this dam to the extent that they will not be stirred up again during floods, something I doubt very much. The treatment plant is designed to remove most of the remaining coal fines and the water will be dosed with a mixture of finely ground lime and cement kiln dust to raise the pH and precipitate dissolved aluminium and iron. These are the metals SE considers most damaging to fish.
But all of this is well down the track and the Mangatini and Ngakawau River will become more contaminated in the short term because there are more pits, more rock dumps and more haul roads. 4 West also risks raising the pollution levels of several other streams because there are underground workings (old Millerton Mine) within the mine footprint. These workings drain to Granity Ck and Mine Ck.
The main point I want to make is this: How can we trust SE to treat mine water to the high standards demanded by the Environment Court at the proposed Happy Valley mine (Cypress) when they are starting 4 West before their water treatment is in place? Worse than that, the dam and treatment plant may not work. (This is a characteristic of SE's West Coast operation – most things don't work.)
The ultimate in exploitation.
Its interesting that SE says it wants the 4 West coal in a hurry "due to coal quality issues". We've heard that coal quality at Happy Valley is not up to expectations and this could be the reason SE has made no moves to start the mine – eg no start to roading, no permit application to shift kiwi or snails.
Talking of coal quality, SE makes much of the fact that it needs the very high quality coal from under snail habitat on Mt Augustus to blend with poorer coals and make them saleable. Without the Augustus coal, says SE, Stockton Mine could close and up to 350 miners lose their jobs. But the high quality coals on Augustus, and to a limited extent Mt Fred, are only expected to last 5 to 7 years.
If Happy Valley coal is of poor quality and needs to be blended with better coals, what happens when these better coals run out? Clearly a Happy Valley mine would have to close.
Either SE is lying, or its Stockton mines have only 5 to 7 years to run. If they are not lying, the mine is still the ultimate in exploitation. Flogging off the readily-saleable coals will still mean relatively rapid closure leaving a poisoned environment and no jobs.
Current mining illegal
SE's 20-year-old water rights for Stockton have weak conditions attached, but they do specify that streams should not be polluted to the extent that aquatic bugs (macroinvertebrates) are adversely affected. Many streams at Stockton are so polluted as to be devoid of life and have been for years. West Coast Regional Council gets SE off the hook by saying the water rights can't be enforced because they do not place measureable limits on pollution eg sediment load, pH, metal concentration. This ignores the fact that the presence or absence of bugs in the streams is eminently measureable. But even if it were measured and found to be nil, nothing would happen because council has a history of colluding with SE to keep the mine going.
Keep up the pressure
The pressure we are putting on SE is having an effect. They are being forced to spend big money on environmental controls and this could make it uneconomical to mine Happy Valley. It's worth noting that it's not just the traditional NGOs watching SE. Locally-based Ngakawau Riverwatch is watching too, and they see and hear more than we do. I frequently get mine workers tell me that without our campaign Stockton would be a far bigger mess than it is.
Snails
A couple of weeks ago, Save Happy Valley protested outside the DOC office in Hokitika. DOC is going along with SE's removal of snails from Mt Augustus despite SE not observing the rules of the protocol for shifting them. Spring is on its way, even mountaintops are starting to warm, but the snails are still stuck in ice cream containers in a domestic fridge in Hokitika. It's scandalous.
We've heard SE has now begun destroying the habitat of the snails, so soon there will be no possibility of return.
SHV Inc is taking action in the Environment Court and High Court over the snails. You can support them by sponsoring a snail – for $10 you get to name your snail and receive a handsome certificate. Sign up at www.savehappyvalley.org.nz
Occupation
If you want to visit Happy Valley and help the occupation, SHV provides transport from Westport and a guide. The camp is very comfortable and it's a great place for hearing kiwi.
Pete Lusk
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