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Somersby sand mine: Greens win postponement motion in NSW Parliament
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Greens MP and mining spokesperson Lee Rhiannon today won support forher motion in the NSW Upper House calling on the government to delay
making a decision on the proposed Somersby sand mine on the Central
Coast, 170 metres from the local school, until further independent
background testing is done on the existing levels of the dangerous
carcinogen ‘crystalline silica’ (motion below).
"This vote puts pressure on the government to hit the pause button and
look more carefully at the significant health risks of this mine for
local school children and residents living near the proposed mine," Ms
Rhiannon said.
The Opposition voted with conservative Cross Benchers to support the
motion by 22 to 17 votes. The Minister for Health and the Central Coast,
John Della Bosca, did not participate in debate or vote on the motion.
"Sandmining produces fine silica dust that contains ‘crystalline
silica’ – a class one carcinogen which causes cancer and silicosis,
an incurable disease.
"Californian studies show dust plumes travel over 750 metres from
mining sites. This sand mine is a stone's throw, 170 metres, from
Somersby Public School. This will create an intolerable health risk to
students and the families and businesses within 1km of the mine.
"Somersby Action Group commissioned independent testing which found
grave errors in the information provided by the mining company to the
government in its environmental assessment documentation.
"The independent soil test results show that the amount of respirable
silica, or silica that school children will breathe, is approximately
five times greater than what the proponents have led the government to
believe.
"The sandstone to be mined contains 97 percent crystalline silica
quartz, and the area is already surrounded by six existing sand mines.
"What these test results show is that the air residents now breathe
already exceeds international air quality standards, even without the
new mine operating.
"These new results support tests completed by Sydney University on dust
samples collected at residences within 3 kilometres of existing mines on
the Somersby plateau, which showed high background levels of toxic
silica.
"The government should trash this proposal. To let it go ahead would be
reckless.
More information: Lee Rhiannon - 9230 3551, 0427 861 568
Motion
215. Ms Rhiannon to move—
1. That this House notes that:
(a) currently for approval before the NSW Minister for Planning is a
Part 3A proposal to
establish a Somersby Fields sand extraction project on the Central
Coast, a 42 hectare
sand mine to operate for 18 years,
(b) on two occasions the same development has been abandoned due to
resistance from the
community,
(c) the project is opposed by residents, the local school community,
the regional education
director for the Central Coast, Gosford City Council, the Labor member
for Gosford
Marie Andrews and the Shadow Minister for the Central Coast Chris
Hartcher,
(d) the sand mine will be 170 metres from Somersby Public School,
resulting in students
being exposed to noise and dust from the mine site, with particular
concern about the
risk of respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, cancer and
silicosis,
(e) there are 65 families, a school of over 100 students and many
businesses within a one
kilometre radius of the proposed mine,
(f) the mine will impact on scarce local water sources drying up
permanent spring flows on
surrounding properties and interrupting flows from three streams on the
site which feed
into the Central Coast water supply catchment,
(g) community opposition to the mine is also based on an impact on more
than 500 local
residents and many more who work in the area, increased truck
movements, disruption
to the local agricultural and horticultural industr
y, destruction of
native flora and fauna,
and the impact on property prices,
(h) crystalline silica is the hidden carcinogen on the Central Coast
plateau and while this
substance is known to contribute to silicosis, the rate of cancer in
people exposed to
crystalline silica is six times higher than the rate of silicosis and
studies in California
show dust plumes travel over 750 metres from mining sites,
(i) the environmental assessment documentation for the project does not
include any
benchmark levels for background crystalline to determine what the
current exposure
level is for students, staff and residents,
(j) the Somersby Action Group’s own test results conducted by an
independent Federal
Government laboratory found that the sandstone to be mined contains 97%
crystalline
silica quartz and, as the school and residents are surrounded by six
existing sand mines
and many agricultural operations, the local population’s exposure to
silica is already
extremely high as found in extensive dust sampling tests carried out,
and
(k) the Somersby Action Group has commissioned a dust emission expert
to confirm the
group’s research into the environmental assessment documentation
which suggests that
the estimated emission calculations for the proposed mine are
exceptionally low,
underestimated and need urgent checking.
2. That this House calls upon the Government to delay making a decision
on the Somersby Fields
sand extraction project proposal until thorough independent testing,
for a minimum of 12
months, is conducted to determine the existing health risk to
surrounding residents due to
background levels of PM10 respirable crystalline silica, a group one
carcinogen, which poses a real threat to the community and a school at
Somersby.
(Notice given 17 June 2009)
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