Why not mine under Local, State and Federal Government buildings - then maybe the penny will drop. Maybe under The Harbour - the Opera House etc etc. Because those places are not important to us - but OUR houses are! They are all we have. Don't take our lives away. We have worked so hard.

Xstrata could afford to replace noisy machinery and reduce vent fan sound output. It uses the excuse of individual business cost centres to hide its money. West Wallsend is hardly at the top of the profit list. The company has a track record in legal matters that suggests it may push the community limits to suit itself. Lobby your MPs. And remember the federal one is a mining engineer.

is it xtrata that is responsible for cracking the diega creek bed & leaving it in disrepair despite some technology now existing to repair some damage? is it xtrata that has haul rd trucks sighted with uncovered loads despite having automated tarps? who monitors this stuff?

so...... they are telling us that the fan will be really noisy and that at sometime in the future, if it's "economically feasible", they will make it quieter. it's like telling the police that you are going to have a party for a few months and that every night it will be really noisy but it will be quieter sometime into the future, maybe, so don't worry. these guys have become a law unto themselves. the mines got rid of our prime minister and if they want to make some noise they will. stuff the residents, they have money to make.

Nothing new here. The Mine will earn $$$$$$$ Blah Blah Blah & generate $$$$$$ roylaties of Blah Blah Blah. So due to the $$$$$$ the NSW Gov. will do nothing to ensure the mine operates by their conditions of consent. So due to $$$$$$ Blah Blah Blah the locals will just have to put up and shut. You could cut and paste this Scenario onto most of the pits in the valley and west to Mudgee & Gunnedah as well as the ones not even built yet. It's funny how they start ANOTHER BAD NEWS STORY about a Mine not meeting its environmental commitments by first telling everyone how much money its going to generate for the owners & the NSW Gov. You might get the idea that the $$$$$$ wipes them of their responsibilities. If the NSW Gov. has no intention of holding the Miners to their obligations who thinks they'll do it of their own back? CRICKY!!! if not now, when will it ever "become economically feasible . . . with a new, quieter style of [coal] crusher" & “vent fan” What part of the income can't they afford to spend to meet their obligations? Because they want the cash and know that the State Gov. won't act to protect us they treat us like third rate citizen's in our own backyard.

The haul road trucks produce hardly any dust - the coal has a high moisture content therefor no dust. Do you people spill a cup of tea in the morning and blame the coal mining companies for that to?

a little bit of noise never hurt anyone. harden up people!

Rose, their is a coal mine under Sydney harbour, it is at Balmain.

The Big Easy. If you are referring to the road trucks that cart the Coal off site to the coal loader, yes they do have a lot of moisture in them. The result of this is black coal sludge that covering the road, the footpath, the guard rails, the signs, the cars & PEOPLE on these same roads. But you are not correct about the dust though. This sludge dries to be the that fine black powder that is constantly in the air along and around these routes. But as the State Gov. & the Mine operators are generating all this money for themselves they might have missed that little issue as you can't see it or breath it from Sydney. But if you referring to the Open Cut version of Haul Truck U/ground Mines don't usually have them and they certainly do generate dust no matter how "MOIST" the contents of their load. They work in fleets back forth over the same dirt road 24/6 at a combined weight of 400 to 500tns they certainly throw up plenty of dust . Even with all the farm irrigation licences turned into mine spray water the watering trucks don't keep up with the roads drying out, lucky there is no dust at night though (oh poo, sorry you just can't see it, so it can't be there can it?)

SPARKS - it is unfair to talk about this open cut dust when clearly west wallsend is not this, there are no dirt roads etc.