West Cumbria Mining proposes 'Woodhouse Colliery', a 50-year mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria which would produce 2.78 million tonnes of coking coal a year. The large scale underground and under-sea mine would generate over 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year producing coking coal with over 85% being exported to European steel works.
There are two main campaigns to stop Woodhouse Colliery
South Lakes Action on Climate Change (Towards Transition) undertake a range of climate-related activities in the South Lakes Area. They bring planning expertise to the campaign to stop Whitehaven, and have useful resources on their website:
Website: https://slacc.org.uk/campaigns/cumbria-coal-mine/
Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole is run by Radiation-free Lakeland, focussing on the site's proximity to Sellafield nuclear plant and on local environmental impacts.
Website: https://keepcumbriancoalinthehole.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stopthecumbriancoal/
While the application was approved in 2019 and again in October 2020 by Cumbria County Council, it is now going to Public Inquiry in September 2021. Following the public inquiry the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, currently Robert Jenrick, will decide the application.
A Europe-wide network opposing imports of coal to Europe through direct action and education, with a focus on neocolonialism in European coal consumption
Website: https://decoalonize-europe.net/
Email: info@decoalonize-europe.net
Facebook
Twitter: https://twitter.com/deCOALonize_eu
As part of Still Burning, Coal Action Network contributed to this report on Coal, Colonialism & Resistance.
London Mining Network (LMN) is an alliance of human rights, development, environmental and solidarity groups of which Coal Action Network is a member. The network focuses on international mining companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, by monitoring human rights and environmental abuses, enabling communities on the front lines of mining in the global south to hold these companies accountable.
Website: londonminingnetwork.org
Email: contact@londonminingnetwork.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/londonminingnetwork/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/londonmining
Coal Action Network works with LMN, frontline communities in La Guajira and international allies against the expansion of the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia.
Europe Beyond Coal campaigns to ensure coal is phased out throughout Europe by 2030 at the latest. The campaign involves civil society groups working across 28 European nations, including the Western Balkans and Turkey. This is focused on power stations, but also looks at mines.
Website: https://beyond-coal.eu
Email: contactbeyondcoal.eu@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeBeyondCoal/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EurBeyondCoal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/europebeyondcoal
UVAG (United Valleys Action Group) is a community campaign group working in the Heads of The Valleys zone in South Wales since 2010.
Facebook
Twitter: @UnitedValleys
UVAG represents the interests of the many ex-coalmining communities in the upper South Wales valleys and has successfully fought several major and protracted campaigns, notably the rejection of the huge mass-burn incinerator proposed by the American company, Covanta, and the massive Nant Llesg opencast coalmine and its subsequent planning appeal.
UVAG continues to fight for environmental and social justice at home, and lending its campaigning expertise and support to other communities in the UK.
Through the Wayuu-led NGO Nación Wayuu, indigenous Wayuu elders and community leaders are gathering in a 'Permanent Assembly' - an ongoing dialogue, which can involve peaceful action to demand justice from the coal company Cerrejón, which operates Latin America's biggest coal mine in the northernmost state of Colombia, La Guajira.
This is a powerful step by communities next to the railway line where open-top carriages take coal across the state to the port. They were not included in the recent UN investigation but also suffer devestating impacts.
Cerrejón is owned by three mining multinationals who are all listed on the London Stock Exchange: Anglo American, Glencore, and BHP. They have recently been ordered to stop expanding the mine and as a result Anglo American and Glencore are now suing the Colombian Government.
(English Translation. Spanish here)
According to their legal and constitutional rights, the Traditional Authorities of the Indigenous Wayuu Movement (located in the municipalities of Maicao, are Manaure and Uribia, ancestral guardians of the territories which have been robbed and desecrated by the train track belonging to Cerrejón Limited) inform the national and international public that from 1st June 2021 they will declare a PERMANENT ASSEMBLY* for the following reasons:
For more than 40 years, the indigenous territories located in the municipality of Albania, Maicao, Manaure and Uribia, were desecrated and divided by the construction of the train line belonging to the Cerrejón company, which gave passage to an immense iron-clad long-tailed animal: a train.
The passage of this immense animal changed the lives of the Wayuu people, who now are feeling death which initially came to them slowly, and now is gathering pace. The most affected are women and children, but also the workers who go to the mine.
The situation is so critical that recently, the UN urged the mine to suspend operations in the municipality of Barrancas, near to the Wayuu reservation of Provincial, for reasons of pollution, water scarcity, and the prevention of transmission of Covid-19 in the communities who live there.
The UN High Commission in Human Rights urged the suspension of some of Cerrejón's opencast coal mine operations, located in La Guajira, Northern Colombia.
UN experts insisted the pollution that the mine produced has caused serious damage to the health of the indigenous Wayuu community who reside in this region, bordering on Venezuela.
David Boyd, UN special rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment, said “at least during the pandemic, the operations in the Tajo Patilla site near to the Provincial reservation should be suspended until they can demonstrate that it is safe.”
He added that the Cerrejón mine had not done enough to comply with the orders of the Colombian authorities, which in December demanded the company improve air quality and limit the damage to the area's inhabitants.
According to UN commission experts, the residents suffer headaches, breathing and nasal problems, dry coughs, burning eyes and blurred vision as a consequence of the exploitation of the Cerrejón mine.
The pollution produced by Cerrejón does not only affect the communities near to the Tajo Patilla or the Provincial reservation, but also the indigenous communities, ancestral guardians of the territories located along the length of the train line and the banks of the Rancheria River. In this second wave of infections in this pandemic that threatens to exterminate humanity, these communities have been seriously affected, leaving countless people dead and many more infected, but this does not matter to the Cerrejon company, who continue their mining operation regardless.
It has been five years since the sentence was handed down which ordered urgent action to benefit the indigenous people of La Guajira, but this judicial order has not been followed through.
The justice system has placed at least 17 sanctions on Cerrejón Coal Limited for the effects that opencast coal mining has brought to the indigenous Wayuu people who live in the immediate vicinity of the mine in La Guajira. The last decision was handed down by the Constitutional Court on 13th December 2016, which included an order to compensate indigenous Wayuu communities for the severe environmental, social and cultural damage, but to this day they have offered nothing but a half-hearted semblance of compliance with this sentence.
As ancestral guardians of territory exploited by the company Cerrejón, we demand the following:
1. Suspend the train operation which transports coal to Puerto Bolivar at the weekends for 24 hours each day (Saturday and Sunday)
2. Urgently reinitiate dialogues which were unilaterally suspended by Cerrejón under the false pretext of the pandemic.
3. Comply strictly with the Constitutional Court order T-704/16
This communication is signed on 1st June 2021 by the Traditional Wayuu authorities, ancestral guardians of this territory.
*Language note: Permanent Assembly refers to an ongoing or recurring gathering to protest and/or engage in dialogue to further a campaign
We will be taking actions in solidarity with Nación Wayuu, and the affected communities. To be involved in this, and other, actions against coal, sign up to our mailing list.
You can read more about Cerrejón's devestating impact on communities in the region in this recent UN report. London Mining Network has a lot of information about communities fighting back against the mine.
This afternoon Cumbria County Council approved, for the second time, the application by West Cumbria Mining to extract 2.78 million tonnes of coking coal a year from Woodhouse Colliery, near Whitehaven.
The Councillors said that it was a finely balanced decision, with the Council proposing 101 conditions on the project. The council has already reduced the lifespan of the proposed operation from 2070 to 2049. The scientific arguments around emissions seemed to be too complex for some of the Councillors to grasp.
A year ago the decision to approve this mine was unanimous, this time 12 were in favour of accepting the application, 3 were against and 2 abstained from the voting.
The coal from this site is suitable for use in steel making, but would mainly be shipped to Europe. Alternatives methods of new steel production such as Direct Reduction Iron and recycling scrap steel already exist.
If this mine were to go ahead it would mean the first new underground coal mine to be started in the UK in many years. The last underground mine, Kellingley Colliery which produced coal for power stations was closed in 2015.
The Councillors who voted against the application had varying reasons, including expecting that the quantity of coal mined in the USA would not be reduced as the companies would find alternative markets in the USA or Latin America. West Cumbria Mining said that this mine's coal production would mean coal in other places was left underground and so there would not be additional carbon emissions due to mining an additional 2.78 million tonnes of coal but this was not unanimously accepted and has been refuted by top economists. Another Councillor had strong concerns about heritage impacts. Both the Chair and the Vice Chair voted against the application.
One of the Councillors who voted in favor of the application said, "I wasn't elected to do global issues, I was elected to do Cumbria issues".
Now the decision will go to Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, to decide whether he will call for a inquiry headed by a planning inspector into the application. If this happens the ultimate decision will be with the Secretary of State who has recently rejected the application by Banks Group to extract coal by opencast coal mining, from the Northumberland coast line.
Robert Jenrick warned the council that he would make this move if they decided to approve the application, before the hearing took place. Therefore this decision is not final.
Will you help to encourage the Secretary of State to call in this decision and decide against the application? There is a new petition launched after the application was approved, addressed to the Secretary of State.
Anne was at the hearing, and these were her thoughts at the end: "Today was a missed opportunity by Cumbria County Council to show real support for decarbonising the steel industry and rejecting this mine. The decision clearly involved careful consideration from some of the Councillors, but many said it was an exceptionally difficult case, leading to two abstentions. Society's understanding that we cannot continue to use old technology in the face of the climate emergency is growing. Consequently the Secretary of State has said he will consider whether this decision should be made by Government is an important step, a year ago that possibility was dismissed."
The UK government needs to take a strong stand on decarbonising heavy industry by stopping this application and making policy decisions that ensure real zero carbon is met quickly through bold action. The UK's hosting of the Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow next year should be a big encouragement to make the right decision and reject this and other projects which would worsen global climate change.
West Cumbria Mining, the company behind the application, is owned by Australian company EMR Capital.
The UK Government has committed itself to reach net zero carbon by 2050 but as yet has not managed to set out a roadmap to decarbonise the UK steel industry.
At a time when we need to rapidly de-escalate from fossil fuels, Cumbria County Council is set to approve a new coal mine which would last until 2049 – well beyond 2030 when most of our emissions reductions must be underway in order to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis.
We're calling on Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local government, to call-in the decision and refuse the mine permission to start - focus on a green recovery instead.
SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE MINE
Learn more here about reasons to oppose the mine
On the 8th September 2020, the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government rejected Banks Group's application to mine coal at Highthorn close to Druridge Bay, Northumberland. This is the second time a Secretary of State has rejected this application, following Northumberland County Council's 2016 approval of the opencast mine application.
This is a huge victory for Save Druridge the local campaign group against the mine. Local resident, Local resident Lynne Tate said, “The thought of this area being once again torn up, for a destructive opencast site over a period of seven years was unimaginable.”
Banks Group also had an application to extend their existing opencast mine in the Pont Valley, which it calls, Bradley rejected in July by Durham County Council.
There is currently only one opencast coal mine operating in England, none in Scotland and three in Wales.
The existing mines, by company are:
Celtic Energy: 1) East Pit, Neath Port Talbot and 2) Nant Helen, Powys (closure December 2021)
Merthyr (South Wales): Ffos-y-fran, Merthyr Tydfil
Hartington, Derbyshire.[1]
Banks Group proposed site:
Dewley Hill, on the outskirts of Newcastle, the planning hearing has been delayed by Covid protections.
There are currently no underground mines operating of significant size
Proposed Underground Mines
West Cumbria Mining have amended their application for the land aspect of a new underground coking coal near Whitehaven in May 2020. If constructed this would produce coking coal for export for 50 years. Cumbria County Council has said a hearing date for a decision will be no earlier than October 2020.
New Age Explorations (an Australian company) are applying for licences for an underground coking coal mine at Lochinvar, on the border between England and Scotland. If constructed the company hopes to be producing coal until 2044.
Drax power station has announced that it will stop burning coal by March 2021 after almost five decades as one of western Europe’s most polluting power plants. Sadly the last two units are being replaced with another polluting fossil fuel, gas. Much of the wood which it burns comes from the clear-felling of biodiverse forests in Europe and the Southern USA which are home to many rare and endangered species.
EDF are reviewing the future of its West Burton power station, after the governmental support through the capacity market payments stop in September 2021. West Burton burns coal from Banks Group’s opencast mines in the North East of England, as well as imported coal.
Kilroot coal and oil power station in Northern Ireland is going to be converted to gas. No timeline for the end of coal use has been announced.
At Ratcliffe on Soar power station the owner Uniper plans to turn the power station into an incinerator for household waste and produce heat and electricity. There is no planning permission for this yet. United Kingdom withouth incineration network (UKWIN) highlight the problems with incinerators including air pollution and climate change, with a campaign against an incinerator at Ratcliffe.
The alternative fuels proposed at Ratcliffe, Kilroot and Drax would result in slightly lower greenhouse gas emissions and not require coal mining. However, these changes are not solutions to the climate or air pollution crisis and they involve building new infrastructure reliant on combustion leaving us dependent on fossil fuels or high levels of domestic waste.
Coal phase-out In early February the Prime Minister said that the coal phase-out could be brought forward from the end of 2025 to October 2024. This is not soon enough for communities at the front-lines of fossil fuel extraction.
Reduced demand for electricity due to the covid pandemic means that no electricity has been generated from coal since the 10th April 2020. 55 days and counting at the point of writing (4th June 2020).
Total UK coal stock levels increased in 2018 to 5.3 million tonnes, broadly similar to the previous year. [2]
There is already more coal above ground than the UK government predicts will be consumed if coal were phased-out in 2025. We don’t need to extract or import any more. This is especially so, if the phase-out date is brought forward.
Object to the Woodhouse Colliery application
Support Don’s crowdfunder to take Banks Group to court for wilfully destroying the habitat of a protected species
Follow the Coal Action Network on social media. Twitter and facebook for updates.
References
[1] The Coal Authority, Production and Manpower returns for three month period January to March 2020 and other sources.
[2] Department for Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy, Statistical Press Release. UK Energy Statistics, 2019 & Q4 2019 (26 March 2020) page 6
Queries and media contact: info @ coalaction . org .uk (without spaces)
We're looking for a new team member to work with us October 2020 - April/May 2021!
You'll play a key role in accelerating the end of coal-fired power in the UK, in a way that strengthens the environmental justice movement and centres communities on the front lines of extraction.
You'll have experience of sustained grassroots campaigning and/or community organising with or in support of communities and have a proven commitment to climate justice.
We can train you up in practical campaign skills, and we hope we can learn a lot from you as well.
Before you apply
Please download the Recruitment Pack and read the Job Description and Person Specification carefully. We will offer you an interview based on the extent to which you meet the Person Specification.
RECRUITMENT PACK contains all the details about the role including the Job Description and Person Specification. Read this before you apply: Recruitment Pack_Campaigner Maternity_Coal Action Network
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Please send the following to isobel@coalaction.org.uk no later than midnight 24.09.20
1. A covering letter (maximum 2 pages) to explain:
How you meet the Person Specification, giving examples of your experience.
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