Mining blasts shake up locals

Dan Bourke was asked to move from a road near the Oakleigh mine.

Rob Williams

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FOR Dan Bourke the rumblings of an explosion are an all too familiar sound.

Mr Bourke does not live in Afghanistan or Iraq but rather on a property outside Rosewood.

The former farrier regularly receives updates from New Hope, operators of the mine, informing him of the approximate time of the next set of detonations.

He said the blasts used to dig deeper into the coal mine regularly shake his nearby house and have woken his sleeping grandson.

"The concussion from the blast is enough to rock the house," he said.

He said his house, and that of his son, who lives on the hill overlooking the mine, are rocked by the explosions regularly with his grandson having been woken up by the blasts.

However, a New Hope Coal spokesman said the blasts should not be noticeable.

"The levels routinely recorded at Oakleigh are consistently below licence limits, and these licence limits have been set well below levels with the potential to cause damage," he said.

"Human beings can detect very small levels of ground vibration, well below levels with the potential to cause damage."

It's an issue set to affect more residents, with more mining due to begin at Ebeneezer next year.

Mr Bourke said while he is not anti-mining he is against what is occurring near Rosewood.

"I've worked in underground and in open-cut coal mines before," he said. "What I'm against is the rape of the environment out here and leaving the country as a lunar landscape."

Mr Bourke said he has had a number of run-ins with the coal mine's staff, the most recent of which occurred on Monday when he was told to move off a public road.

"I got a message from them there was going to be a detonating at about 12.15pm so I went down to (Rosemount Ln) to have a look," he said. "These guys came up to me and told me to p*** off or they'll call the cops.

"It's always been underground mining here and now they're doing this."

Mr Bourke said the detonations occur about once a week.

"Every seven to 10 days I'll get notification from them about another one."