Coalpac Pty Ltd - Castlereagh Coal · 2015-09-02 · The lands occupied by Cullen Valley Mine are...

CULLEN VALLEY MINE

FIRE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Coalpac Pty Ltd Castlereagh Highway CULLEN BULLEN NSW 2795 Tel: 02 6359 0600 Fax: 02 6359 0608

Proprietors of Invincible Colliery and Cullen Valley Mine

Coalpac Pty Ltd

Cullen Valley Mine Fire Management Plan


Coalpac Pty Ltd

CULLEN VALLEY MINE


Revision History *

Version Revision Date Reason for Revision Author Authorised by:

0 2005 Cullen Valley Mine FMP Lithgow Coal Company Lithgow Coal Company

1 27/04/2009 FMP Review D Walsh Hansen Bailey

D Munro Hansen Bailey

2 30/10/2009 FMP Coalpac Review T Flynn Coalpac Pty Ltd

3 11/09/2012 FMP Coalpac Review B Eastwood Coalpac

I Follington Coalpac

COPYRIGHT

Coalpac Pty. Ltd 2012

All intellectual property and copyright reserved.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1968, no part of this report may be reproduced, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system or adapted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to Coalpac Pty Ltd.


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Original Issue Date: 2005

Version Number – 3 Revision Date – 01/08/2012

Author: B Eastwood

120911_Cullen Valley Mine Fire Mgt Plan


Coalpac Pty Ltd

CONTENTS Page

1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 DOCUMENT REQUIREMENT ....................................................................................................................................... 1

1.3 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................................... 3

1.4 REGULATORY CONSULTATION ................................................................................................................................... 3

2 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................................................................... 4

2.1 CULLEN VALLEY MINE SITE ...................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2 SURROUNDING PRIVATE LAND OWNERSHIP ................................................................................................................ 4

2.3 WALLERAWANG – GWABEGAR RAIL LINE ................................................................................................................... 5

2.4 CASTEREAGH HIGHWAY ........................................................................................................................................... 5

2.5 HABITAT COMPENSATION AREAS ............................................................................................................................... 5

3 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ................................................................................................................ 7

3.1 CULLEN VALLEY SITE & ADJACENT PROPERTIES ........................................................................................................ 7

3.2 HABITAT COMPENSATION AREA .................................................................................................................................. 7

3.3 UNDERGROUND FIRE ............................................................................................................................................... 8

3.4 NOISE BUND WALL HEATING .................................................................................................................................... 9

4 EMERGENCY CONTACTS ...................................................................................................................... 9

5 REPORTING & REVIEW ........................................................................................................................ 10

5.1 REPORTING .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

5.2 REVIEW ................................................................................................................................................................ 10

6 RESPONSIBILITIES ............................................................................................................................... 11

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Site Overview ................................................................................................................... 2

Figure 2 Land Ownership ............................................................................................................... 6

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Fire Fighting Equipment List .............................................................................................. 8

Table 2 Water Storage Volumes .................................................................................................... 8

Table 3 Emergency Contact Details ............................................................................................... 9

Table 4 Management Measures & Responsibilities ...................................................................... 11

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A Regulatory Correspondence


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Author: B Eastwood Page 1 of 11



Coalpac Pty Ltd

CULLEN VALLEY MINE


for

Coalpac Pty Limited

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Cullen Valley Mine is owned by Coalpac Pty Limited (Coalpac) and is located in the Western Coalfields of NSW near the township of Cullen Bullen, 25 km north west of Lithgow. The operation is generally bound by the Wallerawang - Gwabegar Rail Line to the west and Castlereagh Highway to the east. Ben Bullen State Forest is located generally to the north and east of the operation (see Figure 1).

Under Section 63 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 (Rural Fires Act), it is the duty of the owner or occupier of land to take any practicable steps to prevent the occurrence of bush fires on, and to minimise the danger of the spread of bush fires on or from that land. The land occupied by the Cullen Valley Mine consists of private lands owned by Coalpac and land held by Forests NSW and the Crown. Coalpac, however, will effectively be the occupiers of the land throughout the life of Cullen Valley Mine. Responsibility for meeting obligations under the Rural Fires Act lies with Coalpac, the Crown Lands Department and Forests NSW.

In order to protect nearby properties and townships, Coalpac has developed this Fire Management Plan (FMP) so that lands occupied by the company for the operation of Cullen Valley Mine are managed in a way that minimises the risk of bushfire as far as is practicable, and reduces the risk of fire originating on the site spreading to adjacent properties or the Ben Bullen State Forest.

1.2 Document Requirement

This FMP is required by Schedule 4, Condition 57 of development consent DA 200-5-2003, which states that:

“57. The Applicant shall:

(a) ensure that the development is suitably equipped to respond to any fires on site; and

(b) prepare a Fire Management Plan;

to the satisfaction of DPI and the Rural Fire Service.”


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

1.3 Document Structure

In accordance with the above conditions, this FMP provides a discussion of the measures in place at Cullen Valley Mine for the management of any fire hazard. This document is generally structured as follows:

Section 2 provides background on the approved mining operation at Cullen Valley Mine and the existing environment surrounding the site;

Section 3 discusses the fire management strategies in place at Cullen Valley Mine;

Section 4 provides an emergency contact procedure to be followed in the event of a fire starting on, or reaching the site;

Section 5 includes the reporting and review processes for this FMP and the associated fire management measures in place at Cullen Valley Mine; and

Section 6 lists the fire management measures included in this FMP and provides the relevant timing and responsibilities for each.

1.4 Regulatory Consultation

This document has been prepared to the satisfaction of the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services (DTIRIS) – Division of Resources and Energy (DRE) formerly the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Correspondence in this regard is provided in appendix A.


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

2 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT

This section provides a summary of the existing environment of Cullen Valley Mine and the surrounding land categories that have been considered in this FMP which includes: the Cullen Valley Mine site, adjacent privately owned land, the rail line, highway and habitat compensation areas.

2.1 Cullen Valley Mine Site

Cullen Valley Mine generally consists of a combined open cut and highwall coal mining operation and associated infrastructure, rehabilitation areas and water management control structures. At present, coal is extracted from the Upper Irondale, Irondale, Lidsdale and Lithgow seams of the Illawarra Coal Measures.

Open cut mining operations at Cullen Valley Mine generally occur from south to north and are carried out utilising shovel/excavator and a fleet of trucks. Coal is extracted from seven seams within the Illawarra Coal Measures by the open cut operation. Highwall and underground mining operations are also approved under DA 200-5-2003 and include highwall mining and underground mining of the Irondale and Lithgow seams using continuous miner units. No highwall or underground mining is currently undertaken at Cullen Valley Mine.

Site infrastructure generally includes the following:

The Cullen Valley Mine site office;

A Contractors Office (which includes a workshop, bathhouse and associated amenities);

Fully bunded fuel storage facilities housing two 50,000 L tanks and associated pipes, meters and pumps;

Coal stockpiles with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes (t);

Carpark and internal access roads (including a private haul road), with site access from an intersection with Portland Cullen Bullen Road (see Figure 1); and

Powerlines, transformer installations and other mining related facilities.

The land to be accessed for the open cut operation is predominantly covered by undulating native woodland and forests which comprise part of the Ben Bullen State Forest. While these native vegetation communities represent a stable and low maintenance landform, the vegetated areas surrounding Cullen Valley Mine may represent a fire hazard if left unmanaged.

2.2 Surrounding Private Land Ownership

The lands occupied by Cullen Valley Mine are predominantly managed by Forests NSW as part of the Ben Bullen State Forest, with other areas within the site held by Coalpac and the Crown. A number of private landholdings are located in the immediate surrounds of the site. The current status of land ownership surrounding Cullen Valley Mine is shown in Figure 2.


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

The township of Cullen Bullen is located approximately 0.5 km to the south of the Cullen Valley Mine site administration facilities and 2 km to the west of the Castlereagh Highway. Cullen Bullen is immediately surrounded by lands cleared for small rural properties, with the Castlereagh Highway separating the township from the Ben Bullen State Forest to the east.

A number of private rural properties are located in the vicinity of the Cullen Valley Mine site, the locations of which are shown in Figure 2. These lands of the properties to the west and south of the site have generally been previously cleared for agricultural activities including cattle grazing, while those properties immediately to the south and north of the site consist of small rural allotments.

2.3 Wallerawang – Gwabegar Rail Line

The Wallerawang – Gwabegar Rail Line runs from south to north immediately adjacent to the western boundary of current operations at Cullen Valley Mine, separating the site and the Ben Bullen State Forest from the cleared rural properties located along Red Springs Road. As shown on Figure 1, a rail loop runs from the main Wallerawang – Gwabegar Rail Line to Baal Bone Colliery to the north of Cullen Valley Mine. Both act as effective potential fire breaks.

2.4 Castereagh Highway

The Castlereagh Highway, a major regional road, provides a boundary to the east of the site, bordering the Ben Bullen State Forest and the site as shown in Figure 2. The highway provides an effective firebreak between the site and further State Forest areas.

2.5 Habitat Compensation Areas

The Cullen Valley Mine Habitat Compensation Areas (HCA) as shown on Figure 1 are approximately 50 ha in size and are predominantly native woodland areas owned by Coalpac, which have been permanently delineated as conservation areas as required under DA 200-5-2003. The HCA are located surrounding the areas previously disturbed by mining activities at Cullen Valley Mine.

The aim of the HCA is to provide a habitat for native wildlife, which gains much of its value in its location being continuous with the adjoining Ben Bullen State Forest vegetation communities. An important component of the habitat potential of the area relevant to fire management is fallen logs and leaf litter, which offer shelter for small ground dwelling mammals and reptiles.


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

3 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

This section provides a summary of the management strategies in place at Cullen Valley Mine to minimise fire risk and manage any events that may occur.

3.1 Cullen Valley Site & Adjacent Properties

For the Cullen Valley Mine site, the Wallerawang – Gwabegar Rail Line and surrounding road network provide effective fire breaks to assist in managing the spread of fire both onto and from the site.

General measures implemented for the management of fire risk on site include:

Regular inspections and maintenance of vegetation adjacent to site infrastructure, access roads and existing fire trails, as appropriate;

Ensuring fire fighting equipment (including water carts) is available on site to assist emergency services in the event of a fire. A list of fire fighting equipment located on the Cullen Valley Mine site is provided below in Table 1;

Ensuring all on site water storages are available for fire fighting purposes to Cullen Valley Mine personnel and the RFS, if required. The locations of current water management infrastructure on site are shown in Figure 1, with approximate capacities of site dams is provided in Table 2;

All infrastructure areas, mobile and stationary plant and equipment at Cullen Valley Mine having access to fire extinguishers;

All infrastructure areas are regularly maintained to reduce the potential for fire occurrence or spread. Site maintenance equipment will be maintained in good working order to prevent accidents that could potentially result in a fire; and

Ensuring that no additional impediment is caused by Coalpac to existing access tracks in the adjacent Ben Bullen State Forest which may be used for fire fighting purposes by the RFS and Forests NSW.

3.2 Habitat compensation area

The HCA does pose a fire risk given the developed structure of the vegetation, leaf litter, fallen logs and continuity with the Ben Bullen State Forest. However, it is the structure of the vegetation that provides the habitat potential in this area and fire management strategies such as hazard reduction burning and fire break construction would greatly diminish the value of the HCA if these measures were to be established along boundaries contiguous with the Ben Bullen State Forest.

The general fire management measures described in Section 3.1 will be implemented for the areas of the HCA which share common boundaries with private properties and the mining and infrastructure areas of Cullen Valley Mine.


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

Table 1 Fire Fighting Equipment List

No Equipment Type Details

10 Dry Chemical Powder Extinguisher 9 kg unit

2 CO2 Extinguisher 5 kg unit

1 Fire Blanket Site Offices

1 Wall Mounted Hose Reel Site Offices

1 CAT 773 Water Truck 30,000 L capacity, water cannon fitted

1 International Water Truck 15,000 L capacity, no water cannon fitted

Table 2 Water Storage Volumes

Dam Name Capacity (Approximate ML)

Main Dam (LD001) 7

Dam #2 5

Dam #3 30

Dam #4 (LD004) 6

3.3 Underground Fire

An area of underground fire was first encountered at Cullen Valley Mine early in 2004 by the open cut operations of Lithgow Coal Company (previous owners of Cullen Valley Mine). This fire had started in the abandoned Tyldesley Mine in the mid 1960s or 1970s and despite attempts to contain this event since, the fire is still continuing.

A Separate Plan of Management for Subsurface Heating at Cullen Valley Mine has been prepared by Coalpac and submitted to the DRE for the ongoing assessment of the underground fire.

The underground fire is confined to the roadways under Tyldesley Hill, and the high tide mark (892 RL) to the north and east. The fire is limited in its distribution by the high tide mark (if maintained at 892 RL) which acts as a physical barrier, in addition to the reduction of fuel as the fire burns through the roadways.

The highwall and rehabilitation interface is approximately 40 – 50 m above the previously mined Lithgow Seam where the fire is still active within the roadways. The potential for heat which is generated by the underground fire to start a bushfire generally believed to be minimal due to the amount of spoil material which was emplaced against the highwall and roadway entries.


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The venting of gas / steam along the highwall interface does occur and is thought to be in small concentrations in relation to the total length of the highwall interface (approximately 1 km), reducing the risk of any ignition / combustion of vegetation.

3.4 Noise Bund Wall Heating

Coalpac submitted a Plan of Works to DRE for the remediation of the Noise Bund at Cullen Valley Mine. The Plan of works was supported by DRE and relevant correspondence is included in Appendix A. All heat effected material was excavated from the Noise Bund and replaced with inert sandstone and revegetated. The earthworks for the remediation of the Noise Bund was completed on 31 July 2012 and the area was seeded on 7 August 2012. Any further works required will be undertaken in consultation with DRE.

4 EMERGENCY CONTACTS

In all cases where there is a risk of loss of, life, serious injury, or spread onto adjoining properties, the RFS will be contacted immediately for assistance through the 000 emergency number. The RFS will also be contacted immediately in the event that there is a risk of fire impacting on infrastructure and other assets at Cullen Valley Mine.

Forests NSW will also be contacted as soon as possible in the event that a fire is detected in the Ben Bullen State Forest, or if there is a risk of fire impacting their lands adjacent to the Cullen Valley Mine site.

All personnel are responsible to notify the Cullen Valley Mine Manager and site office on the numbers provided in Table 3 in the event of a fire occurring on site, or if there is the possibility that a fire in the region may reach the site.

Table 3 Emergency Contact Details

Emergency Contact Contact Number

Fire Service 000 Cullen Valley Mine Site Office (02) 6359 0600 Cullen Valley Mine Manager (02) 6359 0600 Forests NSW 24hr Contact (02) 6332 4812

All employees, contractors and visitors to the site are made aware of the appropriate emergency contacts and procedures to be used in the event of a fire during the site induction process.


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5 REPORTING & REVIEW

5.1 Reporting

As discussed above in Section 4, any fire event that occurs at Cullen Valley Mine that has the potential to result in loss of life, serious injury, or spread onto adjoining properties will be reported to the RFS immediately (via 000).

Details of general fire management measures implemented at Cullen Valley Mine (including the pre-existing underground fire) and any specific fire occurrences will be reported in the Cullen Valley Mine Annual Environmental Management

5.2 Review

This FMP will be reviewed on a three yearly basis (or more regularly as required) by the site Environment representative in consultation with the RFS and DP&I to ensure that it remains consistent with operations at Cullen Valley Mine and in accordance with general industry standards and procedures.

This review will consider the need to modify the FMP and the fire management measures in place at Cullen Valley Mine to ensure that all practicable measures are in place to prevent the occurrence and spread of fire on site. Fire management will be achieved through proper maintenance of machinery and equipment, training of personnel and contractors, and availability of fire fighting equipment and water sources.


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Coalpac Pty Ltd

6 RESPONSIBILITIES

Table 4 summarises the management measures discussed in this FMP and provides the relevant responsibilities for each. These responsibilities may be delegated as required.

Table 4

Management Measures & Responsibilities

Ref Control Measure Responsibility Timing

1 All employees and contractors to be made aware of emergency procedures and responses in the case of fire at Cullen Valley Mine.

All employees Ongoing

2 All fire management equipment will be well maintained to ensure ongoing effectiveness. Mine Manager Ongoing

3 All onsite roads and water infrastructure to be well maintained for access and use in the event of a fire. Mine Manager Ongoing

4

Monitor the area impacted by the underground fire in accordance with the Plan of Management for Subsurface Heating, with thermal imaging to be undertaken on a six-monthly basis or as deemed necessary.

Environmental Officer Ongoing

5 Immediately follow the emergency notification procedure in the event of a fire on site (Section 4 of this FMP), notifying the RFS and Mine Manager.

All employees As required

6 Notify the RFS if there are any changes to site access points at Cullen Valley Mine. Mine Manager As required

7 Fire management actions and any additional management measures will be reported in the Cullen Valley Mine AEMR.

Environmental Officer Annual

8 Complete review of this FMP to ensure consistency with current operations at Cullen Valley Mine and industry standards and procedures.

Environmental Officer Five Yearly



Coalpac Pty Ltd

APPENDIX A Regulatory Correspondence

From: Dan Kirby Sent: Friday, 4 September 2009 12:51 PM To: '[email protected]'; 'Daryn Railey' Subject: Forests NSW comments on Cullen Valley Fire Management Plan & Cullen Valley Blast Management Plan Dianne/Daryn, Please see my comments below relating to the Cullen Valley Fire Management Plan & Cullen Valley Blast Management Plans. Cullen Valley Fire Management Plan - 3.1, dot point 2: It would be beneficial if a list of fire fighting equipment available was included in the plan, to assist emergency services in the event of a fire. - 3.1, dot point 3: A more detailed map/description of dams available for fire fighting purposes would be beneficial. Usability of dams varies depending on whether access is suitable for Category 1 through Category 9 tankers, and/or helicopters. - 3.1, dot point 5: What is the ‘hazard reduction’ equipment referred to in this point? The term seems to refer to hazard reduction burning, which is not proposed. - 3.1, dot point 5: Please add “Forests NSW” as a user of existing access tracks in Ben Bullen State Forest.- 3.2: Please note that the HCA areas are not contiguous with Ben Bullen State Forest, as stated. The boundaries are contiguous with Coalpac land and Crown land. - 3.2: It is stated that hazard reduction burning would greatly diminish the value of the HCA’s, however depending on the species profile/ecological composition of the site, infrequent burning may be beneficial. - 3.3: Because the underground fire has burnt out to the surface in places, this may be a potential ignition source on high fire danger days. Forests NSW would recommend that on days of High Fire Danger or Total Fire Ban, measures be taken to monitor these locations and ensure sufficient fire fighting capabilities are available to respond in the event of fire. - 4, Table 1: Please add “Forests NSW will also be contacted immediately in the event that there is risk of fire impacting on Ben Bullen State Forest” or similar. While 000 should be the first point of call for all fires, a secondary call to FNSW if the fire is in State Forest would aid our response and would ensure a faster response. The 24hr Fire Phone Number for Forests NSW is 6332 4812. - 4, Table 1: Please add an after hours contact for emergency services in the event of a fire occurring adjacent to the site after hours. Cullen Valley Blast Management Plan No comments. However it would be appreciated if notification to Forests NSW of blasts at Cullen Valley & Invincible continued to occur. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these plans. If you would like to discuss any of these points feel free to call. Regards, Dan Kirby Environment/Compliance Forester Forests NSW Macquarie Region (02) 6331 2044 0448 033 325 [email protected] www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forests

DISCLAIMER: This Email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply Email and destroy all copies as well as the original message. All views expressed in this Email are those of the sender, except where specifically stated otherwise, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Forests NSW.

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