Written by James Mahoney
Clean air, beautiful beaches and towering natural forests of karri and karrah that open out onto fertile hills, small plains and vineyards producing wines that are amongst the finest in the world.
That is what makes up the Margaret River Wine and Tourism Region and what the locals are fighting to protect.
The Margaret River wine region deservedly holds its own among the great wine producing regions of the world.
The region has a vibrant and innovative wine industry, with a progressive attitude towards new trends in viticulture and winemaking; as well as a solid reputation for consistently producing high quality wines.
Margaret River wine region is not a huge volume producer although it satisfies over one-fifth of Australia’s premium wine demand.
Today there are over 5,500 hectares under vine and more than 120 wine producers in the region.
As well as being a world renowned wine region, Margaret River is widely accepted as one of the great holiday destinations of the world.
Sydney based company LD Operations is currently applying to mine coal underground there.
The project currently consists of seven mining leases along this shelf and approximately 6000 hectares of land with a coal resource of approximately 60 million tonnes.
The first mine site is located 25 kilometres south west of Busselton and 15 kilometres east north east of Margaret River Township on Osmington Rd.
Local Opposition
This particular mine site has come to people’s attention through the media from nearby grape growers and farmers voicing their concern about the proposed coal mine.
Their deepest concern is the possible effect the mine will have on the wine industry and in particular the possible dangers of wine grape tainting and groundwater contamination.
Grape grower and farmer Keith Scott has spent his life on the land.
Originally from the Murchison, he and his family moved to Margaret River to escape the drought.
He has a 22 hectare property with 12 hectares devoted to grape vines and runs value added beef which is sold into Bunbury and Perth markets.
"Coal mines don't work in a tourist area. They just don't," says Mr Scott.
"We're based around tourism. The Wine industry is worth $225 million a year.
“I’ve spent nearly 20 years looking after this river system. It’s Nimby alright. I just don’t want it here.
"I don’t want it polluting my river and I don’t want it ruining my brand name,” he said.
The companies behind the project include Vasse Coal Management, which is a privately owned Australian Company, South West Coal and LD operations.
The owners of the Vasse Coal Project hold their interest in an unincorporated joint venture structure – with Vasse Coal Management Pty. Ltd.
South West Coal is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AMCI Group which was bought in February 2007 by a Brazilian based iron ore miner, Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (CRVD).
CRVD is the world’s biggest iron ore miners and one of the world’s top 10 largest coal producers in the world.
However, it is LD Operations which has been hired by these companies to facilitate the mine approvals, feasibility and mine development of the project.
According to LD operations, the mine will be an underground coal mine, with a target production rate of around 1.2 million tonnes a year with a lifespan of the coal mine being between 20 – 25 years.
The mine will consist of two mineshafts, the depth of which has not been clarified.
From roughly 250 metres below the ground, a skip hoist will run bringing up to 10 tonnes of coal to the surface approximately every four minutes.
The coal is then loaded onto trucks, which is then transported to a cleaning site.
LD Operations plans to establish coal washing plant in Capel and then ship out through the Bunbury port to markets in India and Asia, although Bunbury ports are not equipped to handle coal.
To put things in perspective, there will be a truck leaving and returning the mine site in Margaret River approximately every nine minutes 24 hours a day seven days a week for 365 days of the year.
Among the strong support group against this proposal is local grape grower and TV chef Ian Parmenter.
Mr Parmenter is part of an action group opposed to the opening of an underground coal mine in this olive, grape and pastoral area.
Mining Risks
The No Coaltion action group is working to prevent potential risks and dangers the proposed coal mine will have on the region.
Some of the risks include potentially toxic coal mining in the Margaret River town water-catchment area.
The proposed mine could also penetrate the fragile Leederville aquifer underpinning the Margaret and Blackwood rivers.
Carcinogenic heavy metals, bio-destructive acids and salts, waste products of coal mining, may damage the local environment.
Twenty years ago Ian Parmenter and his wife Ann moved here, building a home and starting up an orchard and vineyard of their own.
“We think what’s going to happen on the surface could be disastrous let alone what’s going to happen below the ground," says Mr Parmenter.
Mr Parmenter points out the fact that the mine would be right in the middle of an agricultural area.
“We’re trying to build a sustainable industry,” he says.
The Vasse Coal Mining Project is located on the Vasse Coal Shelf, a Permian Coal Seam, spanning from Vasse Newtown (next to Busselton) down through Margaret River Region and ending in Augusta.
The action group is mostly concerned that Vasse Coal project could be only the start of mining in the region.
“The seam runs from Dunsborough to Augusta,” Mr Parmenter points out.
The Vasse Coal Shelf runs beneath and through the Leederville and Yarragadee aquifers.
This poses the threat of water pollution and disruption of the aquifer itself.
On the extreme South West corner of the continent, the earth has thrust up a wedge of granite rock, cracked from the edge of the continent, to form this distinctive “chin” on the face of Western Australia.
After the Leeuwin – Naturaliste ridge was upthrust; Mother Nature filled the intervening gap with precious fresh-water-holding sandstone aquifers and covered it with forest-enriched topsoils.
Then, over millions of years, geological stress caused by the “chip” continuing to drift away from the “block” has fractured the intervening sandstones with a number of vertical faults.
Through these faults, fresh water circulates from the surface to refill the aquifers and later recycles to the surface through underground springs to replenish the rivers.
The proposed coal mine will have to penetrate through the Leederville aquifer, a plan that mining engineers have assessed as ‘highly dangerous’ with catastrophic risks attached.
Any disruption to the aquifer could have disastrous implications for the local surface water and the wider underground systems.
To Keith Scott, subsidence is a big concern. To Ian Parmenter, transport is another.
Former mining experts who live in the Margaret River area calculate a road train every nine minutes travelling to Capel, 24 hours a day, for 30 years, says Mr Parmenter.
“Subsidence is a serious problem. If we get that under the Margaret River, the river will just drain out,” says Mr Scott.
As a member of the Margaret River Catchment group, Mr Scott is also concerned about water quality.
“It is a public water supply catchment. The whole of the mine is in the public water supply catchment,” he states.
Mr Scott is not convinced that Margaret River would benefit from jobs created through mining.
Capel is just 20 minutes away and Busselton 25 minutes, he points out.
“Most will be truck drivers anyway,” Mr Scott says.
"We're going to fight this because it’s just insane,” says Ian Parmenter.
Tourist Opinion
Tourists are plentiful, strolling up and down the main street as the morning wears on.
Kyle Denton is from Busselton.
He says the natural beauty of the area, the beaches and the environment are why they make the trip.
“I don’t know much about coal mining but I think if you had one here in Margaret River it would desecrate a beautiful area and drive away the tourists, so I don’t agree with it at all,” says Mr Denton.
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