Water Quality Database
Water pollution data for NSW power stations
Under the Protection of Environment and Operations Act (POEO Act 1997), coal-fired power stations in New South Wales monitor air and water for pollutants listed in Environmental Protection Licences (EPL) issued by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
In NSW, operators are required to publish this monitoring data online each quarter so that its publicly accessible.
In 2018, HCEC with the help of volunteers began entering this data into spreadsheets, to gain a better understanding of the extent and trends of the pollutants entering our waterways from power stations.
Our analysis of this data underpinned our first investigative report, Out of the Ashes on the environmental impacts and shocking gaps in pollution regulation, which allows hundreds of tonnes of harmful heavy metals to be discharged or leached into our waterways each year.
As of 2021, we have volunteers studiously entering data each month and working to create a database so that that anyone can quickly and easily have access to this information.
If you or your group have questions, or would like to assist with keeping the database up-to-date, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch here.
Lithgow
Energy Australia
Mt Piper & Wallerawang
We estimate that 16 tonnes of harmful metals leach into Lithgow waterways yearly
The Mt. Piper (Energy Australia, EPL13007) and formerly operating Wallerawang (Delta Electricity) power stations are in the populated and otherwise pristine Lithgow region, near the Marrangaroo National Park and the Blue Mountains wilderness areas.
HCEC has collaborated with the Lithgow Environment Group to investigate water quality in this region.
Hunter Valley
AGL
Liddell & Bayswater
40 tonnes of harmful metals are predicted to leach from the Hunter’s ash dumps each year
Bayswater (AGL, EPL799) and Liddell (AGL, EPL2122) are located in the midst of the open-cut mines of Muswellbrook and Singleton, with coal bound for Newcastle Port. This region is home to farming, vineyard and equestrian communities and Gondwana World Heritage in the Mt. Royal, Barrington Tops and Wollemi National Parks.
Lake Macquarie
Delta Electricity - Vales Point
Origin Energy - Eraring
27 tonnes of harmful metal leachate is expected to enter the lake every year
Eraring (Origin, EPL1429) and Vales Point (Delta Electricity, EPL761) power stations have large coal-ash waste dumps situated on the shores of Lake Macquarie, the largest saltwater lake in the hemisphere connected by Swansea Channel to the South Pacific ocean.