Michael Roche, Executive Director of the Queensland Resources Council pointed out on ABC RN Breakfast this morning the problems with open cut coal mines on floodplains, namely the sedimentary basins on the east coast of Australia, as all the voids are left open after mining ceases. Floodwaters end up in the pit, and become highly saline. The sedimentary basins also represent by far the majority of the best farmlands on the East Coast. Recent heavy rain in the Central West of NSW including road closures is a case in point, where coal miners have no choice other than to pump it out into the creeks and rivers. High nutrient levels in rivers causes eutrophication, growth of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and the excessive growth of plant life, thus reducing the available oxygen available for other life including fish.

Stygofauna represents a significant component of Australia’s biodiversity, and are now in danger of a massive reduction in their health and populations due to hydraulic fracking as part of the process to extract coal seam gas.

Citing:
Peter J. Hancock, Andrew J. Boulton and William F. Humphreys. Aquifers and hyporheic zones: Towards an ecological understanding of groundwater
From the issue of the Hygrogeology Journal, entitled “The Future of Hydrogeology”.

Abstract
Ecological constraints in subsurface environments relate directly to groundwater flow, hydraulic conductivity, interstitial biogeochemistry, pore size, and hydrological linkages to adjacent aquifers and surface ecosystems. Groundwater ecology has evolved from a science describing the unique subterranean biota to its current form emphasising multidisciplinary studies that integrate hydrogeology and ecology. This multidisciplinary approach seeks to elucidate the function of groundwater ecosystems and their roles in maintaining subterranean and surface water quality. Continue reading →

What is an Ecological Economist?

Ecological economists are not members of the community of mainstream economists and their work has been routinely dismissed or ignored by mainstream economists. The primary objective of the ecological economists is to enlarge the framework of the neoclassical economic paradigm to include scientifically valid measures of the environmental costs of economic activities. Continue reading →

A Land Economist is one who practises in the field of Land Economics.

Land economics is a branch of the economics field which focuses on the use of land and the role of land in economics. It often intersects with environmental economics, since land use policies have an impact on the health of the environment, and many land economics trade journals focus on the environmental ramifications of land use around the world. Specialists in this branch of economics work in a number of places, from university campuses to public utilities. Continue reading →

The task of a valuer is to use as many approaches as are possible under a particular set of circumstances to weigh all the evidence and determine a value that can be supported in a court of law. Continue reading →

Ecosystem goods and services in Leard State Forest found to be worth $490,000 per annum. Leard State Forest is a Grassy Box Woodland at the southern edge of Mt Kaputar National Park. Unfortunately up to 60% of this EPBC listed critically endangered community is being clear-felled for an open cut coal mine.

Apparently the NSW State Govt has completely ignored the protected status of this forest and the native vegetation clearing laws, to allow a number of majority foreign owned companies to exploit the coal reserves under it in the most surficially destructive way. They could have saved the forest by going underground, but wait, THAT option was going to cost them more money.

As Chris Hartcher, NSW Minister for Mines and Energy, says: “The O’Farrell Govt wants the mining companies to know that NSW IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS”.

Download the report here