AN ENVIRONMENTAL lobby group has taken out a series of cinema advertisements against underground coal miners in the Southern Coalfields.
The NSW Minerals Council released a statement saying that the Total Environment Centre (TEC) advertisements were a political tactic by a political group.
The ads are being run in mainstream cinemas in Wollongong, Miranda and Sydney city, and are aimed at cinema goers in the busy Christmas and New Year period.
“Underground coal mining in the Illawarra catchment area is causing numerous rivers and creeks to crack and drain, leaving them dry and polluted,” TEC Natural Areas Campaigner Dave Burgess said.
“The TEC cinema advertising seeks to pre-empt the findings of the independent expert panel inquiry and to impose a highly provocative, emotive view of a complex issue onto members of the public who may have little or no understanding of mine processes or the strict regulatory conditions under which mining is carried out in this State,” NSW Minerals Council CEO Dr Nikki Williams said.
BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal declined to comment on the campaign.
The impact of longwall mining on water in the Southern Coalfields is currently being investigated by an independent panel set up by the NSW Government.
Key contact:
Dr Nikki Williams
NSW Minerals Council
info@nswmin.com.au
www.nswmin.com.au
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