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Bayswater coal fired po=wer station

Australia’s coal power stations are responsible for hundreds of incidents that impact our health and pollute our air, land and water.

Pollution breaches.

Outages.

Breakdowns.

Toxic Pollution.

Contamination.

Air Pollution.

Toxic spills.

What's happening at the power stations near you?

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Every year, Australia’s coal fired power stations are responsible for:

140

of Carbon Emissions

800

Premature Deaths

12

of Coal Ash

Source: Clean Energy Regulator, Greenpeace Lethal Power Report 2020, Coal Ash Development Association of Australia 2018

About the Coal Impacts Index

The Coal Impacts Index is the most comprehensive list of breaches, breakdowns, and pollution events at Australia’s coal fired power stations ever assembled.

The Index uses a variety of data sources to track four main kinds of 'incidents' at the 16 coal power stations in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, that make up Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM).

Emissions belching from chimney stack

Licence Breaches

Bolt of electricity crossed out

Breakdowns

Skull and crossbones in danger warning sign

Toxic Air Pollution

Cloud containg particles of CO2 gas

Emissions

Incidents Index

Below is a sample of the 1362 incidents in the Coal Impacts Index.
Click to see the entire list.

  • Jun, 2021
    gavel and money symbol representing penalties received

    AGL fined over alleged air pollution breach at Liddell Power Station

    AGL, the owner of Liddell Power Station, is fined $15,000 by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority after allegedly exceeding the licensed solid particles concentration limit for emissions from one of the power station’s four boilers in August to September 2020, in breach of Liddell’s Environment Protection Licence.

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  • Dec, 2020
    gavel and money symbol representing penalties received

    Water pollution incident costs AGL more than $1.1 million

    AGL Macquarie Pty Limited, operator of Bayswater Power Station, enters into an Enforceable Undertaking worth $1.1 million with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) following an incident involving 1,440 cubic metres of fly ash slurry being released, and the pollution of a local creek.

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  • Oct, 2020
    gavel and money symbol representing penalties received

    Vales Point Power Station fined $30,000 for pollution and waste offences

    Delta Electricity, the owner of Vales Point Power Station, is fined $30,000 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), following alleged breaches at Vales Point Power Station when contaminated material, including asbestos, was allegedly spread on the site.

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  • Dec, 2019
    Cloud containg particles of CO2 gas

    Eraring Coal Power Station releases 1,269,062 tonnes of CO₂ throughout the month.

    Data is approximate, calculated using AEMO generation and Clean Energy Regulator emissions data for December 2019.

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  • Jun, 2019
    Skull and crossbones in danger warning sign

    Yallourn Coal Power Station releases 407kg of mercury

    Yallourn Coal Power Station reports releasing 407kg of mercury & compounds in the year to 30 June 2019, the second largest amount of any Australian power station.

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  • Mar, 2019
    Emissions belching from chimney stack

    Bayswater Coal Power Station reports licence non-compliance due to broken pipes and leaks

    The NSW Environment Protection Authority alleges Bayswater Coal Power Station did not comply with a licence condition on 8 occasions, in reference to exceedance of pH (upper limit) due to multiple events “such as broken pipes, blowdown condenser tube leaks, etc”.

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  • Jan, 2016
    gavel and money symbol representing penalties received

    AGL Macquarie fined $30,000 after 6000 litres of sulphuric acid entered stormwater.

    The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issues 2 penalty notices of $15,000 each to the owner of Bayswater Power Station. After a low pH reading was discovered in a creek on 24 November 2015, it was reported that approximately 6,000 litres of sulphuric acid had entered the stormwater system.

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Power Station belching emissions behind town with people waving

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Where is this information from?

The data in the Coal Impacts Index is collated from a number of sources, including government reports and tracking, corporate databases, research reports and self-reported data from power stations. For more information about the individual sources for each of the incidents listed in the index please see the Sources page.

See the full list of sources and footnotes here