Special Monitoring Committee (SMC) · 2017-11-23 · Airly Mine Extension Project update provided to the SMC as per the attached presentation. Key points of discussion are summarised

Glen Davis Road Capertee NSW 2846 Australia

T: 61 2 6359 2100 F: 61 2 6359 2132 E: [email protected] W: www.centennialcoal.com.au

Centennial Airly Pty Limited ABN 84 078 693 722

Special Monitoring Committee (SMC)

Minutes of the Airly Mine SMC meeting held at the Administration Office on May 15, 2014 at 10:30am

Attendance:

Members Cr Colin Hunter – Lithgow City Council – Chairperson (LCC) Jessica Heath – Lithgow City Council

Greg Brown - Centennial Airly Mine (CEY) Chris Hammersley- Department of Trade & Investment, Regional Infrastructure & Services Pearce Thomas - Office of Environment & Heritage

Company Representatives

David King - Centennial Airly Mine (CEY) Bob Miller – Centennial Airly Mine (CEY)

Participants

Veronica Sanday – Capertee Valley Environmental Group Inc.

Donna Upton – Capertee Valley Alliance Inc

Observers

Bill Sanday – Capertee Valley Environmental Group Inc.

Bruce Upton – Capertee Valley Alliance Inc

Noel Fisher – Capertee Valley Alliance Inc

Pam Fisher – Capertee Valley Alliance Inc

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1. Meeting Open

• The Chair opened the meeting at 10.40am

2. Apologies

• James Marshall – James Marshall & Co

Moved Jessica Heath, Seconded Chris Hammersley

3. Correspondence

Correspondence in (tabled):

• Donna Upton (Capertee Valley Alliance Inc) email dated 6 April 2014

• Donna Upton (Capertee Valley Alliance Inc) email dated 9 April 2014

Correspondence out (tabled):

• Centennial Coal – Email response to CVA 6 April 2014 email dated 8 April 2014

• Centennial Coal – Email response to CVA 9 April 2014 email dated 16 April 2014

Moved Chris Hammersley, Seconded Pearce Thomas

4. Confirmation of Previous Minutes

Confirmed that the minutes of the Airly SMC meeting, held 20 February 2014 were a true and accurate record of the meeting. Moved Jessica Heath; Seconded Chris Hammersley

5. Business Arising from Previous Minutes

5.1 Outstanding Action Items 5.1.1 Size of Documents on Centennial Website

• It was requested if the size of the documents loaded onto the Centennial website

could be compressed and reduced making down loading easier.

Action: Airly to consult with Bruce Upton with regard to downloading documents from the Centennial website.

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5.1.2 Water Volume Data

• Centennial to enquire about the possibility of determining an estimate of the volume

of water contained in the aquifer under the Airly – Genowlan Mountain complex.

Action: Airly to investigate if monitoring data from NSW Office of Water monitoring stations located at Glen Alice and Glen Davis is available to the public.

6. Airly Operational Update February – April 2014: Bob Miller Airly Mine update provided to the SMC as per the attached presentation. A key point of discussion related to Airly Mine commencing coal production on 17 March 2014. An outline was provided of the transfer of most of the experienced Charbon workforce to Airly Mine. There was further discussion regarding the low risk mining system in place at Airly and the positive results achieved thus far with coal production above budget.

7. Airly Environment & Community Update February – April 2014: Greg Brown

Airly environment and community update provided to the SMC as per the attached

presentation. The key points of discussion are outlined below:

7.1 Environmental Performance: Monitoring Results

Total Suspended Solids (TSS) monitoring data indicated that the TSS result for a discharge

of water at Licenced Discharge Point No.3 (LDP3) on the 14th March 2014 exceeded the

EPL 12374 limit of 50 mg/L for TSS with a result of 714 mg/L. The discharge of water

followed an electrical storm and intense rainfall event with over 25 mm of rain recorded in 3

hours prior to the discharge event. Monitoring data indicated that the TSS result for a

discharge of water at LDP3 on the 4th April 2014 exceeded the EPL 12374 limit of 50 mg/L

for TSS with a result of 468 mg/L. The discharge of water followed a rainfall event with over

57 mm of rain recorded during the day prior to the discharge event.

7.2 Complaints

Community complaint (April 2014) reported. An alarm could be heard from the mine that was

creating a nuisance. Action had been taken at the mine to identify the cause of the alarm

triggered and repairs undertaken to the failed equipment. The concerned resident was

contacted and advised of the outcome.

7.3 Regulatory Reporting

• The Annual Environmental Management Report was submitted in February 2014 to

government agencies and the Special Monitoring Committee.

• The Mining Operations Plan for the re-establishment of mining operations was

approved by the Department of Trade & Investment, Regional Infrastructure and

Services during March 2014.

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8. Airly Extension Project February – April 2014: David King

Airly Mine Extension Project update provided to the SMC as per the attached presentation.

Key points of discussion are summarised below:

Environmental Impact Statement:

• The Environmental Impact Statement for the Airly Mine Extension Project had been

submitted to the government on 28 April 2014 for adequacy review.

• Landholder access arrangements in place with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife

Service for monitoring activity in the Mugii Murum-ban State Conservation Area.

• Presentation made on the Agricultural and Land Use Impact Assessment that had

been completed as one of the impact assessments for the Airly Mine Extension

Project.

9. General Business

9.1 Borehole ARP05 Monitoring Data

A request was made for monitoring data collected from borehole ARP05.

Action: Airly Mine to provide the results of monitoring data for borehole ARP05.

9.2 Complaint re Visual Impact

A complaint was made at the meeting regarding the visual impact of the product coal

stockpile on the community when driving along the Glen Davis Road.

Action: Airly Mine to register the complaint in the Environmental Management System

at the mine site.

10. Date of Next Meeting

Date of the next meeting – 10:30am on Thursday 21st August 2014 at Airly Mine.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 12:25pm.

www.centennialcoal.com.au

Airly Mine

Special Monitoring Committee Presentation

15 May 2014

AIRLY MINE

AIRLY MINE – UPDATE

Airly Mine Manager, Bob Miller

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AIRLY MINE - OPERATIONS UPDATE

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• Mine commenced production 17 March 2014 (2 days

ahead of schedule)

• Total 58 employees (mostly ex-Charbon)

• Production above budget and operation is meeting

targets

• Life of Mine financial evaluation ongoing inclusive of

marketing options

AIRLY MINE - OPERATIONS UPDATE

• Mining will target “low risk” mining areas – shallow and

ease of access

• No change from previous mining method – first workings

only

• Mining approved until October 2014 with additional

reserves available pending extension of existing

approval

• Remain within EPBC referral Proposed Action Area

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AIRLY MINE – EPBC PROPOSED ACTION AREA

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AIRLY MINE

AIRLY MINE – ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Environment & Community Coordinator, Greg Brown

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MONITORING RESULTSStandard Regulatory Reporting

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Air Quality (g/m2/month)

Dust Deposition Gauge Results

February 2014 March 2014 April 2014

DM1 0.6 1.0 3.8

DM2 0.6 0.4 0.1

DM3 0.8 1.0 2.3

DM4 0.6 0.5 0.9

Non-compliance

Compliance


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Discharge water quality

pHTotal

Suspended Solids (mg/L)

Electrical Conductivity

(µS/cm)

Oil & Grease (mg/L)

February 2014

LDP1 No discharge

LDP2 No discharge

LDP3 No discharge

Non-compliance

Compliance


9


pHTotal



(µS/cm)

Oil & Grease (mg/L)

March 2014

LDP1 No discharge

LDP2 No discharge

LDP3 (14 March 2014)

7.0 714 226 <5

Non-compliance

Compliance

10

MARCH 2014 EPL NON – COMPLIANCE

• Total Suspended Solids (TSS) monitoring data indicated

that the TSS result for a discharge of water at Licenced

Discharge Point No.3 (LDP3) on the 14th March 2014

exceeded the EPL 12374 limit of 50 mg/L for TSS with a

result of 714 mg/L.

• The discharge of water followed an electrical storm and

intense rainfall event with over 25 mm of rain recorded in

3 hours prior to the discharge event.

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12


pHTotal



(µS/cm)

Oil & Grease (mg/L)

April 2014

LDP1 No discharge

LDP2 No discharge

LDP3 (4 April 2014)

7.3 468 96 <5

Non-compliance

Compliance

APRIL 2014 EPL NON – COMPLIANCE

• Total Suspended Solids (TSS) monitoring data indicated

that the TSS result for a discharge of water at Licenced

Discharge Point No.3 (LDP3) on the 4th April 2014

exceeded the EPL 12374 limit of 50 mg/L for TSS with a

result of 468 mg/L.

• The discharge of water followed a rainfall event with over

57 mm of rain recorded during the day prior to the

discharge event.

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COMMUNITY COMPLAINT

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• Community complaint recorded during April 2014;

• A resident reported that an alarm could be heard from

the mine site that was creating a nuisance;

• The concerned resident was contacted to communicate

that action had been taken at the mine site to identify the

cause for the alarm to be triggered and that repairs to

the failed equipment that had triggered the alarm had

been completed.

AIRLY MINE REGULATORY REPORTS

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Standard Regulatory Reporting:

• Annual Environmental Management Report submitted in

February 2014;

• A revised Rehabilitation Cost Estimate was submitted to

the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional

Infrastructure and Services in February 2014;

• Presentation of the Annual Environmental Management

Report to government agencies and a site inspection of

Airly Mine took place on 8 April 2014.

• Received approval from the Department of Trade &

Investment, Regional Infrastructure & Services during

March 2014 for the Mining Operations Plan 2014 – 2016

at Airly Mine.

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AIRLY MINE – MINING OPERATIONS PLAN

AIRLY MINE

AIRLY MINE – COMMUNITY ACTIVITY

Environment & Community Coordinator, Greg Brown

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COMMUNITY ACTIVITY

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• Attended the Capertee Progress Association Monthly

Meetings.

AIRLY MINE

AIRLY MINE EXTENSION PROJECT

Project Manager, David King

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THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS UPDATE

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Baseline Environmental Surveys COMPLETEDup to Q3 2013

Submit briefing paper to Department of Planning & Infrastructure (DPI)

COMPLETEDQ3 2012

Director General provides requirements to be addressed

COMPLETEDQ4 2012

Referral of project to Federal Government under EPBC Act

Q4 2013

Prepare Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) COMPLETEDQ1 2014

Public exhibition of EIS & Stakeholder submissions

NOT STARTEDQ2 2014

Government review of EIS NOT STARTEDQ2 to Q3 2014

Revised requirements (to include Federal Requirements)

Q1 2014

Project determination NOT STARTEDQ3 2014

Conduct various Impact Assessments COMPLETEDQ1 2014

ACTION STATUSTIMING

COMPLETED

COMPLETED

AIRLY MINE EXTENSION PROJECT ACTIVITY

• Environmental Survey and Monitoring

– (Surface water, Groundwater, Terrestrial / Aquatic Ecology)

• Mining Feasibility

– restart plan completed

– life of mine feasibility 2014-15

• Specialist consultants Impact Assessments review and

finalisation completed

• Environmental Impact Statement submitted for adequacy

assessment

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• DGR do not require Agricultural Impact Statement due to

low likelihood of Biodiverse Strategic Agricultural Land

(BSAL)

• Impact Assessment looked at impacts on agriculture and

land use in the PAA

• Broader economic impacts on agriculture are covered in

the Economic Impact Assessment presented in

Technical Session 4

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AGRICULTURAL AND LAND USE IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Soil Types

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Soil Types

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• Mostly earthy sands and lithosols – low inherent fertility

• Grazing areas are yellow podzolic or red podzolic with

moderately low inherent fertility

• No acid sulphate soils

• Grazing land in the PAA is typical of surrounding grazing

lands

• REA site has high soil erodability

Rural Land Capacity Definitions

Class Land Use Management Options

1 Regular cultivation No erosion requirements

2 Regular cultivation Simple requirements such as crop rotation and minor

strategic works

3 Regular cultivation Intensive soil conservation measures required such

as contour banks and waterways

4 Grazing, occasional

cultivation

Simple practices such as stock control and fertiliser

application

5 Grazing, occasional

cultivation

Intensive soil conservation measures required such

as contour ripping and banks

6 Grazing only Managed to ensure ground cover is maintained

7 Unsuitable for rural

production

Green timber maintained to control erosion

8 Unsuitable for rural

production

Should not be cleared logged or grazed25

Soil Rural Land Capability

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Land Use

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Land Use

• Land use in the PAA is primarily State Conservation area

– conservation and recreational use

• Cattle grazing occupies the remainder of the PAA –

Centennial owned

• Adjacent land use includes

– Conservation

– Recreation

– Grazing land with some use of ground and surface water for domestic, stock and pasture irrigation (one user)

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Agriculture in the Lithgow LGA

• Total regional employment 7,717 persons

• Direct agricultural employment 247 persons (3%)

• Indirect agricultural employment 530 persons (7%)

• Beef cattle farming 120persons(1.5%)

• Value of livestock sector $19M

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Key Findings

• No agricultural land will be permanently removed

• No BSAL land effected

• Mining method design will not reduce land capacity in

PAA

• Negligible impact on surface and ground water systems

used for agriculture

• Negligible impact to soils and agricultural resources30

AIRLY MINE

THANK YOU

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