BACK TO TOP

Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine quietly becomes a massive reservoir

Local residents kept in the dark

Council passive as company sabotages agreed restoration plan

Key to the current restoration plan (agreed in 2007) was the return of the huge overburden mounds into the void that were created when the void was excavated to reach the coal. Every day the void fills with water, though, makes returning these overburden mounds to the void more expensive and logistically difficult, as that water would need to be drained first. This is likely to be the intention—Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is refusing to fulfil its legal obligation to fund the restoration plan, so it’s looking to cut corners. Avoiding shifting millions of tonnes of overburden back into the void is a large corner to cut. Removing the pumps, that have been draining water from the void for the past 15 years, and taking months to apply to the Council for a budget restoration deal means that Councillors would have little choice but to rubber-stamp approval. The Council have admitted this would affect the "viability" of the restoration plan.

Council makes no move to inform inhabitants of accumulating reservoir nearby, with no safety checks yet made

Coal Action Network’s drone footage on Monday 11th March raised the alarm bell about the rising water levels. With this footage, a local resident informed Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council of the rising water levels, only to be told that the Council was already aware of it, and that Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd had removed the pumps with no intention of reinstating them. Yet the Council made not move to inform any residents living close to the mine of the massive build up of water above their heads. The Council’s oversight of 15 months of illegal coal mining and now this intentional derailment of the current restoration plan is a further dereliction of its responsibility to the safety and wellbeing of town inhabitants. The Council has failed to hold Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to account for its many transgressions over the past 15 months of illegal coal mining, with baffling impotence. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd’s most recent action to remove pumps from the void is directly breaking the enforcement notice served to it by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, but we won’t hold our breath waiting for the Council to do anything about that…

Find out more about the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine...

Sign our petition for its proper restoration.

Published: 27. 03. 2024

Share now:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Never miss an update! Sign up to our Newsletter

OTHER STORIES

Under pressure: Europe’s largest mining investment conference

As B Labs doesn’t seem bothered was the public says, we asked supporters to contact other B Corps – who are effectively B Labs customers. Almost 20,000 emails were sent to over 60 B Corp status companies, asking them to take a stand with us…

Coal tip remediation – not coal tip mining

The Welsh Government’s long-awaited Bill is expected to be presented to the Senedd before the end of 2024. The very recent Cwmtillery tip slip will make this Bill a more politically charged issue. It will also raise scrutiny over whether measures in the new Bill mark a sufficient improvement on the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969…

Türkiye’nin Kömür Kullanımına Devam Etmesi

Kömür Eylem Ağı (Coal Action Network), 2024 yılında Türkiye kömür endüstrisini araştırdı. Bu makalede, bulgularımız ve Türkiye’deki kömür, hava kirliliği, Rusya savaşı ile karbonsuzlaştırma arasındaki ilişkiler inceleniyor.

e-action to stop this year’s Mines and Monday Conference

Last December in London, the CAN team protested with other climate campaigners for two days in freezing temperatures outside one of the world’s biggest events funnelling investment into expanding mining globally. The ‘Mines and Money Conference’ held in London’s Business Design Centre connected investors with projects and companies responsible for human rights abuses, ecocide, and fuelling climate chaos…

UK Government makes it official: coal mining no more

The UK Government has laid a Written Ministerial Statement confirming that it will introduce legislation to “restrict the future licensing of new coal mines”, by amending the Coal Industry Act 1994, “when Parliamentary time allows”. The UK Government’s press release is entitled “New coal mining licences will be banned”. Here at Coal Action Network, we thinks it’s great that the UK Government is following…

Turkey’s deadly coal consumption

(Türkçe olarak mevcuttur) Coal Action Network investigated the Turkish coal industry in 2024. This article looks at our findings and the links between Turkish coal, air pollution, Russia’s war and decarbonisation.

We have to do better by steelworkers…

Former steelworker, Pat Carr, spoke to Anne Harris from Coal Action Network about the financial support offered to workers when the Consett steelworks closed in 1980, and they discussed what can be done better, in workplaces like Scunthorpe steelworks. (Article published in Canary magazine)

Another nail in the coffin for West Cumbria Mining Ltd

The proposed West Cumbria Coal mine lost its planning permission in September 2024. Since then its application to get a full coal mining license was refused by the Coal Authority, another nail in the coffin of the proposed coking coal mine.

Glan Lash extension: the second attempt

Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is the coal mining company that operates the Glan Lash opencast coal mine, which has been dormant since planning permission expired in 2019. In 2018, it applied for an extension which was unanimously rejected by planning councillors in 2023. Undeterred, Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is trying again! This time with a slightly smaller extension of some 85,000 tonnes rather than 95,000 tonnes…

CONNECT WITH US

Share now:

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x