ABSTRACT West Wallsend Colliery are required to have an independent environmental audit conducted every three years to fulfil the conditions of the sites Department of Planning and Environment Development Application approval PA 09-0203. This report details the results of the 2016 audit. Peter Horn Environmental Lead Auditor Date 18 August 2016 2016 INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT West Wallsend Colliery Executive Summary Oceanic Coal Australia Pty Ltd have requested Peter Horn to conduct an Independent Environmental Audit of the West Wallsend Underground (WWU) Operation. To fulfil the requirements of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment Project Approval PA 09-0203 dated 2012 an Independent Environmental Audit of compliance is required in 2016. The last independent environmental audit was undertaken on 28 June 2013. The audit was designed and conducted to satisfy the planning approval conditions for West Wallsend Underground and focused on the site’s compliance with licences, approvals and supporting documents including management plans. This audit period is 28 June 2013 to 4 July 2016. West Wallsend Colliery is an underground coal mining operation located in the Newcastle Coalfields near Lake Macquarie, specifically the pit top facilities lie near Killingworth. West Wallsend Colliery is operated in conjunction with the Macquarie Coal Preparation Plant (MCPP), located adjacent to the mining operation, which handles and processes run of mine (ROM) coal received from West Wallsend Colliery. In 2010, an application was made for continued operations of the site to DP&E. The application removed areas included in previous applications due to steep slopes and shallow cover and the resulting impacts that had been recognised through review of subsidence results from previous longwalls at the site. There were also areas excised by WWU from the approved mine plan for previous longwalls due to potential environmental impacts. Mining at West Wallsend Underground finished in longwall 52 in May 2016 as the mine reached the end of its economic life. Consequently, the audit was conducted post mining operations. At the time of the audit, the site was removing equipment from the underground operation and securing and storing it at the surface. Demolition of surface facilities had not commenced and there was still a significant amount of work to be done on subsidence remediation resulting from mining activities. The Independent Environmental Audit was undertaken generally in accordance with AS/NZS ISO 19011:2014 – Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing by Peter Horn as a certified lead auditor. The Independent Environmental Audit consisted of a detailed desktop review of documents supporting compliance, interviews with WWU staff and contractors and a site inspection of the complex and supporting infrastructure in July 2016. In conducting the audit, the auditor communicated with The NSW Department of Planning and Environment, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Division of Resources and Energy, NSW Environment Protection Authority, the NSW DPI Water, The WWU CCC and Lake Macquarie City Council to assist in directing the audit focus. The Independent Environmental Audit reviewed 36 approvals and environmental management documents and the recommendations from the previous 2013 Independent Environmental Audit in detail and other documents in a more general manner, where relevant. A total of 1554 conditions and commitments were assessed as part of this audit. 22 issues resulted in 41 non-compliances. 5 of the non-compliances were administrative. Some of the non-compliances noted in this audit relate to the 2016 Independent Environmental Audit Page 1 of 73 same issue which, due to the duplication of commitments between consent documents and management plans, raise the same non-compliance several times. A basic risk assessment was conducted for all non-compliances with Low/Medium/High risk levels as results. For the non-compliances that were not administrative (there were 5 administrative non- compliances), there were 8 Low, and 33 Medium results. No High risks were identified in the audit. Whilst there have been issues, the general environmental management of the site has been acceptable through the audit period. We note the effort that was put into resolving those issues (grouting incidents, water infrastructure and closure) and see the level of commitment to environmental management should be adequate (if it is maintained) for the site to complete closure without any residual issues. 2016 Independent Environmental Audit Page 2 of 73 This page left deliberately blank 2016 Independent Environmental Audit Page 3 of 73 Glossary Term Meaning ACHMP Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management Plan AEMR Annual Environmental Management Report AQMP Air Quality Management Plan AR Annual Review (was AEMR) Archaeology In this text refers to archaeological and culturally significant sites of the area and any history they may have on the development site BOM Bureau of Meteorology CCC Community Consultative Committee CCL Consolidated Coal Lease CL Coal Lease DA Development Application DP&E NSW Department of Planning and Environment. DRE NSW Department of Trade and Industry, Division of Resources and Energy EA Environmental Assessment EEC Endangered Ecological Community, a community of native species that exist in the same geographical area that are listed as endangered as a community under either NSW or Commonwealth legislation. EIS Environmental Impact Statement – is a document describing the potential environmental impact of a proposed development and offering mitigation strategies to reduce or remove the impacts. EL Exploration Licence EMF Environmental Management Framework EOP End of Panel (report) EPA Environment Protection Authority EPL Environment Protection Licence FFMP Flora and Fauna Management Plan LW Longwall 2016 Independent Environmental Audit Page 4 of 73 Term Meaning ML Mining Lease MOP Mining Operations Plan MP Management Plan NMP Noise Management Plan NOW NSW Office of Water OCAL Oceanic Coal Australia Pty Ltd OEH NSW Office of Environment and Heritage PIRMP Pollution Incident Response Plan RFS Rural Fire Service REMP Rehabilitation and Environmental Management Plan SCMP Spontaneous Combustion Management Plan SSCA Sugarloaf State Conservation Area SSD State Significant Development TARP Trigger Action Response Plan, managing environmental issues using trigger levels for assessment of environmental variables to develop actions to remedy impacts WMP Water Management Plan WWU West Wallsend Underground 2016 Independent Environmental Audit Page 5 of 73 CONTENTS 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................12 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................................12 1.2 Site Description..........................................................................................................................................12 1.3 Audit Requirement.....................................................................................................................................12 1.4 Audit Approach ..........................................................................................................................................13 1.5 Report Structure ........................................................................................................................................14 2 Consultation........................................................................................................................................................16 3 Documents Audited............................................................................................................................................25 4 Environmental Compliance.................................................................................................................................28 4.1 Issues Resulting in Non-compliance...........................................................................................................28 4.2 Compliance with PA 09_0203 (as modified) ..............................................................................................30 4.3 Compliance with Statement of Commitments in PA 09_0203...................................................................32 4.4 Compliance with conditions in Environment Protection Licence 1360 .....................................................32 4.5 Compliance with Conditions in Water Licence 20BL173331......................................................................35 4.6 Compliance with Conditions in Water Licence 20BL173332......................................................................35 4.7 Compliance with Conditions in Water Licence 20BL173511......................................................................35 4.8 Compliance with Conditions in Water Licence 20BL169793......................................................................35 4.9 Compliance with Conditions in Water Licence 20BL173531......................................................................36 4.10 Compliance with Conditions in Consolidated Coal Lease 718....................................................................36 4.11 Compliance with Conditions in Consolidated Coal Lease 725....................................................................37