Gwyn Hooper, Uki
Recently Jeremy Tager of Tweed Water Alliance stated that the Tweed Shire has become the water-mining capital of Australia.
With the approval of the ex-Labor minister’s mine in Uki, the combined amount of all the mines now stands at 137 million litres per year. Owing to there being no oversight on the amount extracted from existing mines this figure is a conservative one.
The behaviour of these miners in relation to over-extraction has been well documented.
Even more alarming is that the spring water is shipped to Queensland to be put in 600ml plastic bottles. This means that the 137 million litres of water will result in the production of 228 million plastic bottles!
Recent research found only 40 per cent of plastic bottles are actually recycled. This results in over 91 million bottles ending up in landfill, the waterways and ocean.
If the Tweed Shire is the water-mining capital of Australia then it’s also the plastic-pollution capital as well.
The Tweed Shire Council, the councillors and we should be ashamed for letting this happen. What a legacy for our children and grandchildren.
