Greenpeace activists have locked themselves to the conveyor belts at the Kooragang coal terminal and are holding up coal exports in the world's largest coal port.

HCEC says Hooray for Greenpeace.

Here is their press release:

Greenpeace stops coal loading at Newcastle Harbour

Warns of post-election coal expansion including Anvil Hill

Newcastle, 21st February 2007

Greenpeace has just shut down the biggest coal terminal in Newcastle Harbour to warn of the NSW Government’s post-election expansion plans for the Hunter Valley coal industry, including approval of the controversial Anvil Hill proposal, which would be a climate change disaster.

Follow this link to see an affecting account of what sea level rise is doing to the people in the Carteret Islands... Hear them say "we still believe that people in the industrial countries can help us..." 

After wathcing this, vacuous comments like those from Dee Anne Kelly, John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull that "we need to expand our coal industry to help climate change," seem not only ludicrious, but criminal. 

The "Expert" panel appointed by the NSW Government to report on the Anvil Hill coal project have released their report. The report ignores mounting community demands that coal exports be capped and phased out, and the judgement of the NSW Land and Environment Court, which found that all greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed mine must be assessed.

You can view the report here.

Media Release: 9^th January, 2006

Newcastle Earthquake was caused by coal mining

National Geographic reported on Monday that the Newcastle earthquake was caused by coal mining, and that the human and economic cost of the quake, and the 150 tonnes of water that was removed for each tonne of coal produced under Newcastle, far outweighs the value of the coal extracted.

National Geographic’s Richard Lovett reports that Dr. Christian D. Klose of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York presented his findings at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in California last month. (see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-mine-quake.html)

See also, Lateline's story about the dredging and the coal loader

Media Release 11th December, 2005

Toxic Hunter River Dredging Must Be Publicly Exhibited

While the new coal loading terminal proposed to be built by the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) has attracted alot of attention, the existing coal exporter, Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) is quietly proposing to increase their current throughput capacity by 50% as well.

An Environmental Assessment is on exhibition until 22nd December. The relevant documents are on the Planning Department website at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/major_projects.asp (scroll down or search in the page for "Proposed Increase to Throughput Capacity, Kooragang Coal Terminal (06_0189)"

Gray v The Minister for Planning and Ors [2006] NSWLEC 720

The applicant, Peter Gray, challenged the validity of the decision by the Director- General (DG) of Planning NSW to accept for public exhibition the environmental assessment for the proposed Anvil Hill coal mine on the grounds that it did not contain a detailed greenhouse gas assessment. Justice Payne of the NSW Land and Environment Court found in favour of the applicant, but did not go so far as to strike down the environmental assessment.

While an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of coal proposed to be mined form Anvil Hill was central the applicant’s argument, the judgement has implications for all development approvals under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPAA).

Justice Nicola Pain in the Land and Environment Court has ruled that the environmental assessment of the Anvil Hill coal mine is not adequate, as it fails to address climate change.

See below for the HCEC media release on the ruling

Click here to see a short video of what will be lost if the Anvil Hill mine goes ahead

Link to other pages on this site about Anvil Hill and the case:

Background: Save Anvil Hill

September: News about the case launch

October: Controversial changes to the Planning Act rushed through by the State Government to thwart the case

November: State Government misleading the public about Planning law changes

November: Summary of submissions to the Anvil Hill environmental assessment

Summary of the legal and political implications of the court ruling

-------------