Mangoola Coal

Umwelt was engaged by Mangoola Coal in the role of Lead Consultant for the preparation and management of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and approvals process for the Mangoola Coal Continued Operations Project (the Project). The Project is seeking approval to continue mining operations in an area to the immediate north of the existing operations and if approved will allow for the continuation of operations and employment opportunities at the site for an additional 5 years.

After two years of working with Mangoola Coal on the Project, including an initial constraints phase to help inform the project design, all of the required technical assessments have been completed and in July 2019 the EIS was finalised and submitted to the NSW Department of Planning Infrastructure and Environment. Subsequently, the EIS has now been placed on Public Exhibition and is available for viewing on the NSW Planning Portal.

The successful completion of the EIS also involved a comprehensive stakeholder engagement program with members of the local community, members of the Aboriginal community and key regulatory agencies. Throughout the process, Umwelt assisted Mangoola Coal with holding several Community Information Sessions to provide for community input into the assessment process and to discuss the findings of the EIS with the community and assist with answering any questions they might have.

In addition to preparing the EIS, Umwelt also undertook a number of the technical specialist studies including biodiversity, social impact assessment, historic heritage, agricultural impact assessment, greenhouse gas, bushfire and hazard, visual and a Commonwealth Matters of National Environmental Significance Assessment.

Umwelt have valued this opportunity to work on another State Significant mining project of this scale and are eagerly awaiting the end of the public exhibition period to commence the next key steps in the assessment process.

If you would like any further detail on this Project or Umwelt’s experience in working on State Significant Development approvals projects please contact either John Merrell or Daniel Sullivan on 1300 793 267.