Solid Energy endangers lives on mountaintop

Press Release: Save Happy Valley Coalition

State-owned coal miner Solid Energy has blasted on the Mt Augustus mountain top near Westport, despite protestors maintaining their camp in the area.

"Security guards came down into the dense subalpine forest on Department of Conservation land and yelled that there would be blasting in the area. The protestors shouted back to let security know they were there, but at 5.45 pm they heard a huge noise echoing down from the mountain above them," said spokesperson Frances Mountier.

"Solid Energy know that we have people in there, we have told them repeatedly that we are still there, but today they went ahead and blasted anyway.

Solid Energy operates on a 500m exclusion zone for blasting, and Coalition members believe today's blast was within 500m of their location.
"We know that Solid Energy thinks coal is worth more than biodiversity. But do they also believe that coal is worth more than a human life?"

The Save Happy Valley Coalition are beginning a third week of blocking blasting in the area, as part of an effort to save the last remaining habitat of the carnivorous land snail Powelliphanta "Augustus".

In nearby Happy Valley, the site of a proposed Solid Energy mine, the Coalition has maintained an occupation for over a year.
ENDS

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