Coal Action Network was invited to attend Westminster where we gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee in their inquiry about the environmental and economic legacy of Wales’ industrial past, alongside Friends of the Earth Cymru.
This inquiry was opened in December 2024 to examine the environmental legacy and economic impact of Wales’ historical heavy industries. You can find our written evidence here.
In our submission, we focused on the consequences today of old coal mines. Whilst we recognise the wealth it generated, much of that was kept by the Directors of mining companies whilst abandoning their restoration responsibilities to host communities. Our 2022 report ‘Coal mine restoration in South Wales’ documents this pattern in Wales’ recent past. We also highlighted the threat of new coal mining under the guise of remediation, as proposed in Bedwas, South Wales.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd operates the recently closed sprawling Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine, next to the town of Merthyr Tydfil - home to around 58,000 people. In 2015, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd agreed a restoration plan with Merthyr Tydfil Council, which - after coal mining ended - would see the landscape put back to before coal mining began and with extensive habitat improvement to support nature to return to the area. But as soon as Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd saw there was no more profit to be made, it claimed that it had failed to set aside enough of its profits to fund the restoration plan it agreed to deliver back in 2015. Rather than taking Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to court over what would be a breach of contract and trust, Merthyr Tydfil Council invited the company to gut that restoration agreement by around £85 million in works, and with no punitive action against the company. This is despite all public records indicating Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd actually can afford the original restoration plan.
Within the last decade, Celtic Energy Ltd - another mining company, evaded well over £100 million in restoration costs and made a high quality restoration impossible at 4 opencast coal mines across South Wales. Communities living close to these sub-standard restorations still pay the price for Celtic Energy Ltd's profiteering. In fact, the Welsh landscape is littered with over 2,500 coal tips - abandoned by coal mining operations and now forming a huge burden estimated to cost £600 million to deal with.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd's attempt to evade the cost of the restoration it agreed to at Ffos-y-fran is therefore just the most recent instance of an industry that continues to cost some of the poorest communities in South Wales more than it ever gave them. But all is not lost for the 58,000 residents of nearby Merthyr Tydfil. We're standing alongside vocal campaigners in the area against this attempt by Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to short-change the town of Merthyr Tydfil by £91.2 million in restoration funds. You can help us by taking 2 min to object to this application on the local council's website.
Restoration plans are supposed to return the land back to a better state than before coal mining began. In reality this rarely happens, but it somehow still convinces planners to grant permission for mining. The new plan to downgrade the restoration tries to shift this 'baseline' state of the land by 17 years from before coal mining began to just after coal mining stopped. This is so the new restoration downgrade only has to improve a Mordor-like landscape ravaged by 16 years of coal mining, drastically lowering the threshold. But there's no justification for setting this new starting point.
The new downgrade proposes to permanently leave huge health and safety hazards in a landscape that is in easy walking distance from the population of Merthyr Tydfil, even encouraging the public into this area. There are tangible risks to life and limb from a very deep flooded void, to a sheer cliff edge and massive coal tips, one of which has already suffered large slip. All of these hazards are supposed to be removed from the landscape at the end of coal mining, but Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is putting its profits before people's lives.
The flooded quarry, Dorothea in Talysarn, Gwynedd is an abandoned quarry left in a similar state to what is now being proposed for Ffos-y-fran. But since 1990, there's been over 20 tragic deaths at Dorothea quarry.
3 colossal coal tips were supposed to be removed at the end of coal mining but the coal company wants to leave them where they are, despite the fact they leach toxic metals into the surrounding ecosytem, which it admits is home to protected Great Crested Newts. To make it worse, one of the many cuts to the previously agreed restoration plan is to stop maintaining the ponds which capture "chemical loads" from rainwater running off the colossal coal tips, admitting that they may 'silt up', which would potentially harm the endangered Great Crested Newts, as well as spread the "chemical loads" further into rivers and streams.
In one of the most blatant greenwash attempts we've seen in a while, this coal company suddenly cares deeply for minimising CO2 emissions. This, it claims, is why it proposes to leave the 37 million cubic metres of mine waste, soil, and rocks in the three massive dumps its created, rather than refill the opencast void with it - as was the original plan. Earth-moving requires HGVs burning deisel... but the emissions spared by leaving behind 3 colossal coal tips overshadowing 58,000 people would amount to just 2% of the illegal coal mining Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd did over 15 months after its planning permission expired. If the void is filled in with the coal tips, it'll also provide a greater carbon sink cancelling out that CO2 of these earthworks even more. This isn't about CO2, its about money - which Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd want to turn into even greater profits.
One of the main cuts to the original restoration plan is to leave 37 million cubic metres of mining waste, soil, and rocks in 3 colossal coal tips scattered around the site and towering above nearby residents of Merthyr Tydfil by up to 210 metres, disfiguring the landscape forever. One of these coal tips, nearest to residential homes, has already suffered instability with a recent and large coal tip slip 2024. The combined pressures of climate change, illicit scrambler bikes, and time could create further instability and dangers.
Many coal tips require regular maintenance and all disused coal tips must be monitored for instability. Long after the coal company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, has left with its tens of millions in profits, there will be ongoing maintenance costs likely to amount to millions and likely to be funded by tax payers.
Against official guidance, the aftercare period being proposed for nature restoration is just 5 years. Guidance recommends double this to 10 years to ensure tree and hedge plantings are successful before the coal company is allowed to wash its hands of responsibility. 5 years does not give long enough to see what plantings need to be replaced and to support the growth of those - instead, failed plantings will either be abandoned or the tax payer will have to pay for replanting and maintaining those areas.
Prior to opencast coal mining, the area formed part of the Gelligaer and Merthyr Common, an upland area of rough grassland grazed by sheep, cows and horses. Commoning is a way of life with a rich history dating back to 1066 and enshrined in the Magna Carta (1215).
The cuts to the original plan mean leaving behind a huge flooded mining void and 3 colossal coal tips. This will severely reduce the ability for Commoners to exercise their historic rights to graze their animals on the land. It also represents a broken promise to return this land to the Commoners after coal mining. Instead, the hazards that would be left behind pose risk of injury and death to the Commoners' livestock.
A whole way of life and a living part of our history is threatened by the cuts proposed to the original restoration plan, as well as the preservation of native Welsh breeds of sheep and cows like the South Wales Mountain Sheep, or Welsh Black cows.
Through the thick layer of greenwash, the real reason for trying to cut every corner on the original restoration plan is admitted by the company's representative: "It was established that there are insufficient funds available to achieve the 2015 restoration strategy and therefore an alternative scheme is required.". But it's a matter of public record that this is not true, with £91.2 MILLION set aside by the company to fund the original restoration plan. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd even claimed tax discounts on this from HMRC.
The mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, is trying to do the residents of Merthyr Tydfil out of tens of millions of pounds worth of restoration at Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine by massively reducing the restoration it agreed to carry out at the end of 16 years of coal mining. To understand the lasting impacts this would have, and why we must resist it, we've made a guide on the community impacts of two other 'zombie' restorations in South Wales where the same happened.
Former opencast coal mining sites like East Pit, Margam Parc Slip, Nant Helen, and Selar are all recent examples of 'zombie restorations' carried out on budgets often amounting to 10% of what the promised restoration would have cost - sometimes even less. Ffos-y-fran looks set to join that list. Restorations are so-called because they are meant to return natural life to the area after coal mining has finished, often with promises of even more natural habitat and life than there was before. But just like zombies, these restorations is that they can appear fairly normal if you don't look too closely and you didn't know what it looked like before (depending on the movie!)... but there's little natural life in these areas after coal mining.
Often planning permission is granted for coal mining on the basis that the area will be restored with even better natural habitats and public amenity (access, facilities etc.) than before. Surrounding communities pay the price for the promised restoration with years of noise, dust, and disruption to their daily lives. When that restoration is inevitably denied by profiteering mining companies, communities report:
The UK was one of the first countries in the world to mine coal so industrially. Many of those coal mines were abandoned, not all of which are even mapped - though over two thousand recorded waste dumps (coal tips) in South Wales alone hints at the scale. Opencast coal mining left particularly visible scars on the landscape so the voids left over were meant to be filled in after the coal was extracted. When applying for coal mining permission, coal mining companies would sign contracts binding them to pay glowing nature reserves to be established after the coal was extracted. But most of the time, these companies siphon off the profits and declare bankruptcy, or find legal loopholes, to dodge their responsibilities to restore the mess they created.
Fortunately, Councils usually require that a small amount is paid to them by the coal mining company either at the start of a coal mine or as it progresses. But this is often around just 10% of the cost of restoring an opencast coal mine. So when the coal mining companies wriggle out of their contractual duty to clean up the mess they created, the Councils are often forced to then pay these same companies these small amounts of money to do basic works to make the site at least safer and less of an eye-sore for the communities living around it - but at 10%, that money doesn't go far, and can't erase the injustice of broken promises to those communities who also paid in years of coal mining, noise, dust, and disruption. Read our flagship report tracking restoration an seven recent sites across South Wales.
To restore the site of a sprawling opencast coal mine can cost over £100 million. The original Ffos-y-fran restoration scheme is estimated to cost £75-125 million. Merthyr Tydfil Council got £15 million from the coal mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd in 2019, after taking the company to court. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is now refusing to fund the restoration it agreed to, despite posting record profits and selling an extra c640,000 tonnes of coal than it was permitted to.
Despite the injustice of it, the Merthyr Tydfil Council's £15 million will theoretically go further if it's paid to Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to carry out a zombie restoration compared to a new company, as Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd already has its machinery and employees on site from when it was coal mining. The same happened when Celtic Energy Ltd refused to fund the restoration of four coal mines it operated in South Wales, stealing £millions from local communities and paying their Directors huge bonuses that year. Each Council paid Celtic Energy Ltd even more money to carry out zombie restorations at each site, leaving a legacy of bitterness in local communities that's alive today.
Zombie restorations typically cut corners in the following areas:
The Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) has released a critical report on the management of opencast coal mining in Wales, particularly focusing on Ffos-y-Fran, one of the last opencast coal mines in the region. The report describes Ffos-y-Fran as a “symbol of the system's failures”, highlighting significant shortcomings in oversight.
The CCEIC specifically calls out Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) for its inaction regarding illegal mining activities that continued after the mine's license expired in September 2022. The report questions whether MTCBC could have done more, noting the Coal Authority's concerns about the lack of a robust closure plan.
Local residents have expressed deep concerns about their treatment by public authorities. The committee emphasized the need for improved transparency and engagement, urging MTCBC to involve residents in the revised restoration plan.
Campaigner Chris Austin welcomed the report, stating it offers strong recommendations for policy changes regarding coal mine restoration. He expressed hope that the findings would lead to better outcomes for Ffos-y-Fran and prevent future issues.
We praise the CCEIC for investigating the failures that allowed illegal mining to occur without repercussions. The focus now must be on the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council implementing the committee’s concrete recommendations to restore justice to affected communities.
Among the 26 recommendations (see below for a full list), the CCEIC calls for the Welsh Government to ensure that policies on opencast coal mining are robust and protective of local communities. The Coal Action Network advocates for a clear ban on coal mining in Wales, similar to Scotland's 2022 decision, to prevent mismanagement in the future.
The report serves as a crucial reminder of the need for accountability and proactive measures in managing natural resources in Wales.
Own emphasis
Published: 08. 08. 2024
The Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, has become a truly cautionary tale on the power of the fossil fuel industry and of the impunity of companies behind large-scale projects. In its most recent act of environmental vandalism, mining company Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd removed its pumps to allow the massive void it created to fill with water. Permitting millions of gallons of water to collect above the town of Merthyr Tydfil without an assessment by a Reservoir panel expert is dangerously reckless.
Key to the current restoration plan (agreed in 2007) was the return of the huge overburden mounds into the void that were created when the void was excavated to reach the coal. Every day the void fills with water, though, makes returning these overburden mounds to the void more expensive and logistically difficult, as that water would need to be drained first. This is likely to be the intention—Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is refusing to fulfil its legal obligation to fund the restoration plan, so it’s looking to cut corners. Avoiding shifting millions of tonnes of overburden back into the void is a large corner to cut. Removing the pumps, that have been draining water from the void for the past 15 years, and taking months to apply to the Council for a budget restoration deal means that Councillors would have little choice but to rubber-stamp approval. The Council have admitted this would affect the "viability" of the restoration plan.
Coal Action Network’s drone footage on Monday 11th March raised the alarm bell about the rising water levels. With this footage, a local resident informed Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council of the rising water levels, only to be told that the Council was already aware of it, and that Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd had removed the pumps with no intention of reinstating them. Yet the Council made not move to inform any residents living close to the mine of the massive build up of water above their heads. The Council’s oversight of 15 months of illegal coal mining and now this intentional derailment of the current restoration plan is a further dereliction of its responsibility to the safety and wellbeing of town inhabitants. The Council has failed to hold Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to account for its many transgressions over the past 15 months of illegal coal mining, with baffling impotence. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd’s most recent action to remove pumps from the void is directly breaking the enforcement notice served to it by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, but we won’t hold our breath waiting for the Council to do anything about that…
Find out more about the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine...
Sign our petition for its proper restoration.
Click the image or here for the full report
Countless communities across the UK were - and still are - being sold a lie by their Local Planning Authorities and mining companies.
This report combines field and desk-based research to reveal the continuing failure of Local Planning Authorities to honour promises made to local communities about how, and when, nearby opencast coal mines would be restored. The research finds that mining companies have consistently evaded restoration costs, and continue to hold Local Planning Authorities to ransom in funding even the bare minimum restoration which would otherwise bankrupt County Councils who would be lumbered with a financial liability amounting to tens of millions. Field research indicates that event those sites which Local Planning Authorities have confirmed by email to be fully restored contains uncovered and leaking storage tanks of industrial chemicals, abandoned warehouses, concrete platforms, and no-go zones sectioned off with barbed wire. COP26 broke new ground, with claims the UK would 'move beyond coal' - but we risk leaving behind communities that cannot ‘move beyond coal’ as they continue to live with the localised impacts of a natural environment ravaged by up to 80 years of opencast coal mining. It is in this context, that we provide an update to some of the findings within the 2014 report on the state of coal mine restoration in South Wales, commissioned by the Welsh Government.
We hope this research will spark renewed calls for the vital restoration work still required, ensure plans for the restoration of coal tips is accompanied by restoration of voids, and sound a warning against consideration given to new or extended coal mining in South Wales and beyond.
This webinar draws on the recently launched report, ‘Coal Mine Restoration in South Wales’, revealing the injustices and broken promises surrounding the restoration of 7 opencast coal mines in South Wales. It serves as a stark warning for any future coal mine proposals.
The webinar will offer a whistle-stop overview of the desk-based and primary research findings, with key analysis and recommendations. You'll see photo evidence that's been exclusively shared with us of the current state these former coal mines are in.
This webinar was first run in December 2022
Time: 11am-12'noon (1 hour)
Date: Tuesday 14th February 2023
Eligibility: this webinar is intended for staff at relevant councils in South Wales
Registration required: contact us for details.
The research finds that mining companies have consistently evaded millions in restoration costs, and Local Planning Authorities struggle to keep promises made to local communities impacted by unrestored or poorly restored coal mines. Field research indicates that even those sites which Local Planning Authorities claimed to be fully restored contain uncovered and leaking storage tanks of industrial chemicals, abandoned warehouses, concrete platforms, and no-go zones sectioned off with barbed wire.
The ‘Coal Mine Restoration in South Wales’ report updates a 2014 Welsh Government report, ‘Research into the failure to restore opencast coal sites in south Wales’ on the state of restoration across Wales, which flagged these sites as liabilities for being left unrestored or poorly restored.
