Georges River - Cataract River - Woronora River - Nepean River - Waratah Rivulet - Woronora Catchment
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longwall mining - simpson's creek - environmental destruction

rivers- creeks - swamps - catchments - water - cracked river beds
"This was Simpsons Creek - now just another creek written off"

Appin Colliery Area 4, Longwall 409 - Simpsons Creek - BHP Billiton

Longwall LW409 is one of three longwalls which has totally destroyed Simpsons Creek and its aboriginal sites since the 1990's.

Considerable damage also occurred to the Sydney Catchment Authority Upper Canal which is part of Sydneys drinking water supply system. The Upper Canal which is estimated to supply 20% or more of Sydney's drinking water crosses Simpsons Creek on its way to Sydney's Prospect Reservoir.

Damage to the Upper Canal and is dealt with on upper_canal
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Smashed creek bed and damaged sacred sites

Damage to aboriginal sacred sites - loss of water in Simpson's Creek near Appin

The Wadi Wadi people are traditional owners of the Woronora Plateau and its rivers along with three other Illawarra aboriginal tribes. The two caves inside the cliff line of Simpsons Creek were once occupied by these people over many years.

The damage to Simpson's Creek which is located west of Appin is typical of the increasing damage being discovered on the creeks and rivers of the Woronora Catchment and areas where longwall mining is taking place.

At one time this creek was part of the Nepean River catchment and the Sydney water supply. In the same area the Cataract river is documented as having stopped flowing at least twenty times in recent years.
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The water has disappeared through the cracked creek bed

The water which flowed past the cave and helped sustain the Wadi Wadi people in the past has now gone, disappearing down cracks in the badly fractured creek bed which is now overgrown with grass.

A second cave located further downstream and 50 metres east of the Upper Canal is collapsing and the creek bed and walls of the gorges are badly damaged..

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Macarthur Bushwalkers - Simpson Creek 19 May 2010 - 370 meters of cracked and smashed creek bed
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Simpson Creek - smashed creek bed 15 May 2010
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Allan Carriage - Simpson's Creek bed 15 May 2010 - downstream the gorge walls are also collapsing

Appin Colliery Longwall 409 - End of Panel Report - page 15 - February 2010 - Appin Colliery Area 4, Longwall 409

Table 4-1: Summary of Predicted and Observed Impacts Resulting from Appin Longwall 409 on SCA Infrastructure

Surface Infrastructure

Predicted Impacts

Observed Impacts
Brooks Point and Elladale Roads Minor cracking and localised buckling of the road surfaces may occur in some locations. Minor cracking observed along the private section of Elladale Road
The Upper Canal Cracking and spalling of sandstone blocks and floor of canal Minor cracking and spalling of canal walls and floor.
Maintenance Road Minor cracking of the road pavement Minor cracking, separation and uplift of concrete pavement.
Culverts and Flumes Significant impacts unlikely Cracking in culvert headwalls.
Simpsons Creek Aqueduct Impacts unlikely after the implementation of the management strategies outlined in the Asset Protection Plan and TARP No significant impacts. Minor cracking in concrete headwalls
Simpsons Creek Bridge Impacts unlikely after the implementation of the management strategies outlined in the Asset No significant impacts

5.1.1 Cliffs and Steep Slopes

Minor, discontinuous cliffs were identified along Simpsons Creek. The predicted subsidence and valley related movements at the minor cliffs may have resulted in rock falls from any marginally stable faces, or could potentially dislodge any marginally stable rocks or boulders on the rock face. It was considered unlikely that there would be a significant impact on the cliffs resulting from the proposed mining

It was considered that predicted ground strains may result in the slippage of soils down steep slopes, resulting in tension cracks at the tops of slopes and compression ridges at the bottoms of slopes. If tension cracks were left untreated it is possible that soil erosion could have occurred. No large-scale slope failure was predicted.

Cliff lines and steep slopes were visually inspected regularly as part of the monitoring program. There were no observable impacts to either the cliff lines or steep slope areas during the extraction of Longwall 409.
</TABLE> </TABLE>
Aboriginal cave with view of Simpson's Creek from cave
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View of sides of creek east of the first aboriginal cave
simpsons creek damage </TABLE>
Cracked creek bed
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Cracked creek bed
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Damage caused by boulders from top of cliff rolling down to the creek bed
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Second aboriginal cave showing fallen rack from overhang on the left Cracked rocks adjacent to second cave
simpsons creek damage
View of cracked cave at the top of the cliff face

Longwall Mining damage - the country does not recover

BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal and the mining industry creates the worst damage to our country imaginable. They take calculated risks with your property, with our swamps, creeks and rivers, geographical features which have not recovered to date. There is little evidence to show that they will recover in the future.

The industry has a record of disasters world wide, OK Tedi is a prime example. In the not too distant future we will see the NSW Woronora Plateau amongst the list of permanent casualties.

Macarthur Bushwalkers has researched and published these disasters on the pages of Project Georges River Macarthur.

When rivers run dry

Can it get worse? The answer is YES! It can get worse.

As Australia's population expands to 30 million or more where are the resources coming from to support them. In recent years we have had water restrictions. In the future it is likely that those restrictions may be tightened. Imagine people queuing in Sydney's streets with containers to collect drinking water. An everyday shower may become a thing of the past.

The water supply is an essential service owned by you and me, not by the NSW State Government who are their to serve us. The current NSW government is squandering our most important and essential requirement WATER.

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