Q&A Session Report from Airly Mine extension project

Airly Mine Extension Project

The fourth community consultation session for the Airly Mine Extension Project was held on Sunday

16 February at Airly Mine. Approximately 30 people from the local community attended the session.

David King (Senior Mining Engineer, Airly Mine) presented an overview of the Airly Mine Extension Project, specialist consultant’s topics presented to date through the community information sessions and how feedback has been considered and incorporated into the EIS; James Marshall (James Marshall & Co) presented information relating to the Social and Economic Impact Assessments.

Key areas of discussion included:

      The potential impact to land values following approval of the project.

      Has the impact of mining on local creeks been fully understood and considered?

More information on the Airly Mine Extension Project can be obtained on Centennial’s website – www.centennialcoal.com.au   and the briefing paper for the Extension Project can be found on the Department of Planning and Infrastructure website – www.planning.nsw.gov.au

Questions and Answers relating to the overview of the Airly Mine Extension Project, Social and Economic presentations held at

Airly Mine 16 February 2014.

Question	Response
Does the Social Impact Assessment consider land values as the community are really concerned about a drop in land values?	As the impact assessments have determined that the impacts of the Project do not go beyond the boundary of the Project Application Area it was concluded that therefore there was not expected to be any impact on land values.
How can the community be assured that adequate assessments have been completed for the Project?	The Director General Requirements prescribe what information must be provided in the impact assessments.
How can the community be assured that an adequate assessment has been conducted on Gap Creek because the mine has not been operating for the past 12 months?	The  Groundwater  Impact  Assessment  has  included  a  Hydrogeological Model that has been developed based on approximately 100 years of meteorological data.   The assessment considers the permeability of the strata and makes predictions on the draw down of aquifers. Centennial is proposing to have the Hydrogeological Model peer reviewed.
Will the results of future water monitoring be available to the community?	In the future the results of water monitoring will be made available through the Community Consultative Committee at Airly Mine.
Will there be any impacts to local creeks, how does Centennial know what and where impacts will occur to Airly Creek, Dog Trap Creek and Coco Creek?	The Surface Water Impact Assessment has identified that Airly Creek is very salty and has a high concentration of metals. Centennial is not expecting to regularly discharge water from the mine.   If the mine was to discharge water Centennial would expect the concentration of salts and metals in the discharged water to be lower than the natural background levels in Airly Creek.
What  are  the  approximate  dimensions  of  the  proposed  underground mining area?	The underground mine workings will be approximately 8.5 km long east to west and approximately 2.5 km long north to south.

Question	Response
When will Airly Mine return to coal production?	At the time of this session a decision on Airly’s future was pending. Since this  session  a  decision was  made  to  reopen Airly  immediately utilising personnel and equipment from Centennial’s Charbon Colliery.
Can Centennial include groundwater bores on surrounding properties in the area in the groundwater monitoring program at Airly Mine?	Airly   Mine   has   undertaken   some   groundwater   monitoring   on   a neighbouring property however Centennial is yet to decide on an appropriate  monitoring  program  for  the  future  Airly  Mine  Extension Project.
Has Centennial assessed the potential impacts from lighting on residents along Camerons Road?	The  Visual  Impact  Assessment  discussed  mitigation  measures  such  as designing lighting requirements to avoid the direct line of sight from neighbouring residences where possible, lighting of  large  areas  to  only occur if required for emergency lighting or for maintenance activities and lighting required for security will be designed to minimise the spill of light into the surrounding area.
Will information from today’s presentation be available for review at a later date?	Yes, information will be placed on Centennial’s website.  Specialist reports, maps and plans of the proposed mine and other technical data are also available for review at Airly mine.
Is there any system that allows compensation to the community if predictions are incorrect such as a prediction for the loss of water flow in Gap Creek?	The government will monitor the performance of Airly Mine to ensure the mine operates within defined limits and regulation.  Adaptive management at Airly Mine using mechanisms like Trigger Action Response Plans will allow the mine to modify the mining activities to mitigate the impact on the environment.
Where will the groundwater come from that is proposed to be extracted under the Centennial Airly Water Access Licence?	The groundwater will be extracted from the strata in the underground mine workings.