February 2018: As Australia transitions away from coal-fired power, questions are raised about the safe management and disposal coal ash, one of the most significant forms of waste in the world.
This report highlights the experience of one community—Port Augusta, South Australia—in the aftermath of the closure of a coal-fired power station and mine. The transition has not been an easy one for the community, as a result of poor planning by the State Government and the mismanaged rehabilitation of the site by Flinders Power.
In exposing these failings and highlighting what can be done to improve the situation, Greenpeace Australia Pacific hopes to support local demands for full and proper site rehabilitation to ensure that the community—and other communities facing coal power plant closure—has a clean and healthy future.