Comments on: A dirty black hole

By: Richard Solly

Richard Solly — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 08:02:38 +0000

The Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia that Kelvin mentions is about to force another small farming community off its land. The village of Roche is scheduled for forced eviction on Thursday 29 August. Mining company officials have shown complete contempt for the community in relocation negotiations, and a stalemate has developed.

The mine is owned by three massive multinational mining companies listed on the London Stock Exchange: Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata. In the hope of postponing the eviction to give more time for negotiations, Colombia Solidarity Campaign is organising a flying picket of these companies’ London offices on Tuesday 27 August, starting at 2pm. Please come!

See http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/events/26-upcoming-events/594-el-cerrejon-mine-in-colombia-attacks-communities-ino-pasaran for details.

By: Bugsy

Bugsy — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 20:56:20 +0000

It’s not just the gigantic and unsightly holes that are left after the mine’s exhausted, either. Before the “top-cut” can even begin, the first stage in removing the earth to access the seam, the process of pumping off the groundwater starts from four to six years before that and deprives all of the vegetation in a very wide area around the site of sustenance. In addition, the mining companies aren’t particularly fussy and they dump the deeper, sterile, layers on top of the higher, more fertile, layers on the huge spoil mountains. The result is a moon landscape on which nothing can grow, even 30 or 40 years after mining activities have ceased. Before opencast mining can even commence, there should be a law mandating that the mining company is obligated to return the area to its former condition. That would potentially make opencast mining unprofitable.

MsG

Bugsy

By: Steve Leary

Steve Leary — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 01:44:13 +0000

From Steve Leary, Co-ordinator, the Loose Anti Opencast Network

Kevin Mason from the United Valleys Action Group is right to draw attention to the scourge that is opencast mining both here in the UK and abroad. Perhaps though, his article should have been called ‘Dirty Black Holes’ as, according to the Coal Authority, in 2012 34 opencast coal mines operated across Britain and they produced over 10m tonnes of coal.

The Loose Anti Opencast Network (LAON) has been campaigning against potential new opencast mines across the UK since 2009. LAON is currently monitoring proposals to develop a further 34 new opencast sites across Britain, 13 sites in England, 14 in Scotland and 7 in Wales. Currently there are over 20 local groups objecting to such destructive and intrusive planning proposals. Kevin mentions the proposed large 9m tonne Nant Llesg site in Wales, but both Scotland and England have large site proposals as well, the 10m tonne site proposal at Caulhall nr Rosewell in Midlothian and the 7m tonne Highthorn site proposal near Duridge Bay in Northumberland.

In the UK opencast coal mining is a highly speculative industry which can leave in its wake severe environmental damage. We are witness to this now, with two major opencast coal operations going bankrupt in Scotland earlier this year, Scottish Coal and ATH Resources, leaving behind at least 15 scares in the landscape where large coal sites have yet to be restored. For one local authority alone, East Ayrshire, the cost of the clean up to the local taxpayers is expected to be £74m. This is already the price we are paying in the UK to exploit this source of energy.

The United Valleys Action Group is welcome to ally itself with LAON to work towards the elimination of opencast coal working where local communities in the UK feel it to be inappropriate. If others want to find out if there is a local campaign group objecting to an opencast mine application near them then contact LAON via infoatlaon@yahoo.comitself

To find out more about LAON just Google “The Loose Anti Opencast Network” or follow Seftonchase on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Seftonchase