Rising Tide Australia

Port Waratah Coal Services is the operator of the two existing coal terminals that make up the world's biggest coal port - Kooragang and Carrington. In 2005 and 2006, they together shipped out over 80 million tonnes of coal per year, which went on to generate nearly 200 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution (comparison: Australia officially generates about 550 million tonnes per year from all sources - coal, oil, gas, agriculture, land-clearing, the lot).

PWCS is controlled by two global mining giants: Xstrata and Rio Tinto. Through their subsidiary's, these two companies are responsible for much of the destruction of land and water that has taken place in the Hunter Valley and surrounds, to supply ever increasing export coal demands.

In ealry 2007, the Kooragang terminal increased capacity from 64 to 77 million tonnes of coal per annum. In April, the NSW Planning Minister caved in to coal industry pressure and gave PWCS approval to increase Kooragang capacity to 120 million tonnes capacity. This would not involve any increase in the area of the terminal, but simply a widening and quickening of the stream of coal from the stockpiles to the ships.

The now approved expansion would:

• result in more than 100 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution per year, indefinately. That's the equivalent of doubling NSW emissions from electricity, transport, and mining.
• result in a proliferation of devastating new coal mines in the Hunter Valley and Gunnedah Basin region's of NSW