Feature Length Live Virtual Presentation 10th Australian Stream Management Conference 2021

The End of Coal: future implications for management of Australian waterways (#75)

Ian Wright 1 , Jason Reynolds 1 , Nakia Belmer 1 , Michelle Ryan 1 , Katherine Morrison 1 , Callum Fleming 1 , Leo Robba 1 , Paul Winn 2 , Johanna Lynch 2
  1. School of Science , Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
  2. Hunter Community Environment Centre, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  1. We have been investigating water pollution and environmental degradation from coal mines and coal-fired power stations. As coal mines and power stations close we are concerned that residual contamination and damage to waterways will be problematic for decades. This is likely to be a future pollution legacy that has received inadequate attention and society is probably not fully aware of the scale and complexity of the current or future problems.
  2. Over 20 years we have conducted multiple investigations of waterways across the Sydney basin on different forms of pollution or damage from coal mine operations and coal ash storages. We have investigated aquatic pollutants including salinity and a large suite of metals. We have also examined habitat damage and impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Our investigations also compared results with ANZECC guidelines and EPA and other regulations and legislative approvals.
  3. We are aware that the long-term water pollution and environmental damage will continue long after coal mines and power stations close. Contamination will continue to be released into local groundwater and streams and rivers. Subsidence fracturing of streams from underground mines will inflict long-term damage to stream hydrology, habitat and is likely to continue to leach contaminants into streams. Power station coal ash repositories will release tonnes of ecologically hazardous contaminants into waterways for decades.
  4. Our research raises concerns that pollution and disturbance of waterways from active and closed coal mines / coal-ash waste dumps are poorly recognised sources of environmental degradation that future generations may be unprepared for.  
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