... So we thought we would!
Volunteers from Neath Port Talbot Friends of the Earth have given out flyers in Glynneath to start conversations and direct people towards this information about the mine expansion, and about how you can take action as people living near Aberpergwm.
Aberpergwm has permission to extract over 40 million tonnes of coal over 18 years: 2.33 million per year. The mine is set to expand under Seven Sisters , Treforgan and Crynant and up to Varteg Hill to the West.
According to legal advice received by the Coal Action Network, the Welsh Government should have intervened to stop the mine AND the Coal Authority could have taken the mine's climate change impacts into account before granting it permission. As a result the mine is up for debate in court.
Allowing the mine contradicts both the UK and Wales' climate commitments, the Wales Future Generations Act and the Welsh Planning Policy Framework
This increase would mean:
 
There are no plans to increase the number of jobs.
Jobs that are promised are precarious because...
 
 
 
No.
The company paint a picture of an expanding global market for their coal for water filtration, securing jobs into the future.
But the quality of the coal in this seam makes it unsuitable for water filtration as the company claim [8]. The nine foot coal seam in this area has a lower carbon content than that needed for water filtration [9]. So only a tiny percentage of the coal, if anything, can be used for this.
Instead Aberpergwm is predicated on the future of coal in steel production, which is not at all secure [10]
Steelworks using coal are some of the UK's biggest polluters; Tata Neath Port Talbot is by far the biggest single site source of greenhouse gas emissions in Wales [11] and Aberpergwm proposes to continue contributing to that for another 20 years
Meanwhile, scientists agree that no new coal can be extracted anywhere in the world if we are to stay below 1.5 degrees of warming [13] which is considered the safe limit for life on the planet.[14].
Furthermore, the coal in the mine is anthracite, which results in a high-methane producing operation. The 1.17 million tonnes of methane that would be released if this coal is to be mined would act quickly on the atmosphere, as methane is 80 times more powerful than CO2.[12]
Flooding events like those seen in the Neath Valley, and other catastrophic climate events globally are set to become more frequent if current levels of methane and greenhouse gas emissions are maintained
Local residents told The Guardian that the mine is "Not the future we should be going for".
Couldn't there be a long-term and green source of jobs for Glynneath, Cwmgwrach, Blaengwrach and the Neath Valley?
Blaengwrach resident Emma Eynons told CAN:
The communities in my local area have been suffering for many years with a lack of investment by the Welsh Government.
 
We live in an area of outstanding beauty, and of scientific interest, with so much wildlife and natural resource all around us. We would love to share our beautiful home with the rest of the world and establish a thriving community.
 
We want tourism, small business growth, regeneration plans which will mean real jobs with futures as we move forward. A community transport scheme would alleviate the social problems faced by our isolated residents
 
As a traditional mining community, of course we should celebrate our proud history of mining achievements. However, I would ask the Welsh Government to consider what the future of our communities should be.
It's really easy to write to Lee Waters MP: Wales' Deputy Minister for Climate Change. The Welsh Government needs to hear personal letters from local residents and people in South Wales.
You don't have to say very much, you just need to show you care, and pick one or two facts or themes from this page in your own words. Three sentences are enough!
Steps to write to Lee Waters MP:
Please send any replies you recieve to info@coalaction.org.uk
For the case against the mine to succeed we have to fund it! Please share our crowdfunder page
1Planning Application P2014/0729 Mining Zones Map (Neath Port Talbot Council planning portal)
[2]Coal Authority production statistics: 25666 (2019) 16957 (2020) 19690 (2021) tonnes was produced. Average 20,771 tonnes of coal.
[5]Planning Permission document P2014/0729 (7)
[6] Channel 4 News: https://www.channel4.com/news/are-cop26-promises-on-coal-being-broken (04.02.22)
[7] Wales carbon budgets/targets March 2021: https://gov.wales/climate-change-targets-and-carbon-budgets
[8] Core samples show 88.3% fixed carbon content https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/115771/1/Zagorscak%20and%20Thomas%20(2018).pdf (126)
[9] In excess of 95% fixed carbon content: https://mineralmilling.com/anthracite-filter-media/
[10] Coal in Steel : Problems & Solutions (Coal Action Network)
[11] Wales carbon budgets/targets March 2021: https://gov.wales/climate-change-targets-and-carbon-budgets
[12]Channel 4 News report, research provided by Global Energy Monitor https://www.channel4.com/news/are-cop26-promises-on-coal-being-broken (04.02.22)
We are an environmental organisation dedicated to ending coal mining and use in the UK for the sake of our collective climate and ecosystems. So you’d think we’d celebrate the claim by Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd that it will finally stop mining coal today at Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. But we’re not. Because the abject failure of Merthyr County Borough Council to stop…
People hailing from Cumbria to London, and everywhere in between, descended on the Mines and Money Conference in London across two days (28th-29th Nov 2023). We demanded that investors stop pouring cash into the mining sector, and instead invest in our collective future. Together with Fossil Free London and other groups, we greeted investors with…
The insurers that have ruled out underwriting the mine are AEGIS Managing Agency, Argenta Syndicate Management, Hannover Re and Talanx. These are the first financial institutions to rule out any involvement with the project, and the win represents a new phase in the campaign to stop the project from going ahead.
Today’s global actions focused specifically on the state-owned China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Sinosure is said to be in advanced talks with the Ugandan government about providing credit for the project.
On 18th October dozens of protesters staged a sit-in occupation of the plush City of London offices of ten Lloyd’s of London insurers demanding they rule out insuring the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
Global mining companies are coming to London soon attempting to find investors in their ruinous projects at the Mines and Money Conference (28th to 30th November). Join our protests against it!
01 September 2022: Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd applies for a S.73 time extension to mine coal from Ffos-y-fran, and to accordingly delay and vary restoration works.
06 September 2022: Planning permission ends for coal mining at the Ffos-y-fran site, after 15 years and 3 months of operations.
12 September 2022: first reports to MTCBC have been made by local residents of coaling beyond the end of planning permission.
Over 30 Welsh NGOs and businesses have signed a letter to Welsh Minister Julie James and Deputy Minister Lee Waters, demanding they draw a line in the sand and announce ban on any further coal mines on Welsh soil. The letter was delivered on 11th October 2023.
On 15th September 2023, The Guardian reported that Tata Steel accepted Government funding to avoid closing its steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales, by decarbonising it instead – but at a loss of up to 3,000 jobs. The UK Government is providing £500 million, and Tata Steel is expected to provide another £725 million…