Tell NSW, Don't Poison Your People - Protect Them from Toxic Coal Mine Drift
For the past year Queensland residents have blasted coal operations over the poisonous clouds their mines emit. Queensland responded by suspending operations indefinitely.
Now mines in NSW are under attack, and already a number of health incidents are being investigated.
It's bad enough that miners working close to blast zones often end up hospitalized when exposed to these toxic clouds, but the drift is frequently moving far beyond blasting sites and affecting nearby neighborhoods as well. Even worse, the mines are failing to send out the proper warnings when the drifts occur, says the Sydney Morning Herald, because NSW does not yet require mines to issue drift warnings as Queensland does.
The nitrous oxides in the clouds are not only a threat to communities but they're the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse gasses, and Australia is one of the countries most at risk for climate change.
Tell NSW it's time to put an end to this poisoning!
We, the undersigned, believe that the toxic effects of coal mining on the environment are bad enough, without NSW failing to take immediate steps to protect the public from drifting clouds caused by mine blasting.
The Morning Herald reports your intention to have rules in place by September that would require mines provide an evacuation plan or alert system for residents in the path of the toxic clouds. However, we do not believe this is soon enough to properly protect your people from being poisoned by gasses in cloud drifts.
We suggest you do as Queensland did and suspend all blasting operations at NSW mines until this safety issue is adequately resolved.
Thank you for your attention to this request.
