The end of coal : what are the residual impacts for Australian rivers?

![CDATA[This paper is a summary of multiple investigations on some of the major impacts of coal mines and coal-ash on waterways in NSW. We present a summary of three major environmental problems that we believe will continue to contaminate and impair waterways long after the coal mines and power stations have closed. The first case study is the pollution of mine drainage that can be triggered after the mining stops. It follows the Berrima Colliery case study, before and after it closed in 2013. The closure and flooding of underground workings triggered mildly acidic pH and higher concentrations of several metals, compared to when the mine was operating. The second case study examines subsidence from the Tahmoor Colliery, an underground coal mine. The study investigated Redbank Creek that was extensively fractured by longwalls that made multiple passes directly under it. Salinity and the concentration of metals such as zinc and nickel increased by many times to levels exceeding ANZECC water quality guidelines for aquatic ecosystems. The macroinvertebrate composition of the creek that was strongly impaired had abundant mosquitos. The third case study examines metal-enriched water pollution emerging from one of the many coal-ash dumps across NSW. The closed Kerosene Vale coal-ash dam, near Lithgow, received coal-ash wastes from the nearby (now closed) Wallerawang Power Station for several decades. The ash dam was constructed in a tributary of the Coxs River, near Lithgow, part of Sydney’s principal drinking water catchment.]]