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Monitoring and Management of Subsidence Induced by Longwall Coal Mining Activity

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Monitoring and Management of Subsidence Induced by Longwall Coal Mining Activity Monitoring and management of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity This report was commissioned by the Department of the Environment on the advice of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development. The review was prepared by Jacobs Group (Australia) with input from Mine Engineering Subsidence Consultants and Strata Control Technology. August 2015 Monitoring and management of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity Copyright © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2015. Monitoring and management of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ This report should be attributed as ‘Commonwealth of Australia 2015, Management and monitoring of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity, prepared by Jacobs Group (Australia) for the Department of the Environment, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra’. The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party] ’. Enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to: Department of the Environment, Public Affairs GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Or by email to: [email protected] This publication can be accessed at: www.iesc.environment.gov.au Acknowledgements This report was commissioned by the Department of the Environment on the advice of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC). The report was prepared by Jacobs Group (Australia) with input from Mine Subsidence Engineering Consultants (MSEC) and Strata Control Technology. The report was peer reviewed by Professor Derek Ellsworth (Chair of Departments of Energy and Mineral Engineering and of Geosciences and the Center for Geomechanics, Geofluids, and Geohazards, Pennsylvania State University) and Ms Karina Barbosa (Research Engineer, School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland). Consultation with various Queensland and New South Wales Government agencies (the only Australian states with longwall mines) was undertaken via a project workshop (November 2014) and the opportunity to provide comments on the draft report. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment or the IESC. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth and IESC do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. page ii Monitoring and management of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... xii Glossary.................................................................................................................................................. xv 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Outline ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Background ................................................................................................................................ 1 2 Review of subsidence impacts on groundwater and surface water resources .................................. 3 2.1 Longwall coal mining method ..................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Longwall coal mining subsidence............................................................................................. 10 2.3 Impact of longwall coal mine subsidence on groundwater ...................................................... 24 2.4 Impact of longwall coal mining on surface water resources .................................................... 32 2.5 Subsidence mitigation and remediation methods .................................................................... 43 3 Evaluation of modelling tools ............................................................................................................ 52 3.1 Subsidence modelling methods ............................................................................................... 52 3.2 Groundwater modelling methods ............................................................................................. 85 3.3 Surface water modelling methods ............................................................................................ 97 4 Evaluation of monitoring and measurement approaches ............................................................... 113 4.1 Monitoring subsidence ........................................................................................................... 113 4.2 Groundwater monitoring ......................................................................................................... 127 4.3 Surface water monitoring ....................................................................................................... 132 5 Generic approach for investigating subsidence related impacts on groundwater and surface water resources ........................................................................................................................................ 138 5.1 Step 1: Identify water resource assets ................................................................................... 140 5.2 Step 2: Characterise the assets and determine management objectives ............................. 141 5.3 Step 3: Qualitative risk assessment ....................................................................................... 142 5.4 Step 4: Baseline monitoring ................................................................................................... 144 5.5 Step 5: Conceptual model development ................................................................................ 146 5.6 Step 6: Quantitative estimate of subsidence .......................................................................... 150 5.7 Step 7a: Quantitative estimate of the impact of subsidence on groundwater resources ....... 150 5.8 Step 7b: Quantitative estimate of the impact of subsidence on surface water resources ..... 151 5.9 Step 4, 5, 6 and 7 iterations ................................................................................................... 152 5.10 Step 8: Quantitative risk assessment ................................................................................... 152 5.11 Step 9: Assessment of mitigation measures ........................................................................ 153 5.12 Step 10: Post-mining monitoring .......................................................................................... 153 5.13 Step 11: Validation of predictions ........................................................................................ 154 5.14 How the generic approach fits Queensland environmental regulation ................................ 155 6 Description of coal deposits in Queensland amenable to longwall coal mining ............................. 158 page iii Monitoring and management of subsidence induced by longwall coal mining activity 6.1 Introduction to coal deposits in Queensland .......................................................................... 158 6.2 Description of the Bowen Basin ............................................................................................. 165 6.3 Description of the Galilee Basin ............................................................................................. 183 6.4 Differences between NSW and Queensland coal deposits ................................................... 207 6.5 Summary of conceptual models ............................................................................................. 214 7 Knowledge gaps and limitations ..................................................................................................... 218 7.1 Subsidence mechanisms ....................................................................................................... 218 7.2 Impacts on groundwater ......................................................................................................... 219 7.3 Impacts on surface water and connected groundwater ......................................................... 220 7.4 Predictive methods ................................................................................................................. 220 7.5 Understanding of Queensland coal basins ...........................................................................
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