Coal Creek

“Coal Creek” documents the tireless work of a large number of concerned citizens to shine a spotlight on the damage being done to the Royal National Park by a neighbouring mine. Filmed on Dharawal Country in 2022 the story shows repeated pollution events by neighbouring Metropolitan Coal Mine into Camp Gully Creek which carries the pollution into the Hacking River which is a major artery of The Royal National Park. To add to these concerns UNSW relocated a colony of Platypus into the river.

Citizen scientists led by Sutherland Shire Environment Centre have been advocating for the mine to be held account for the damage wrought over the years. When they were joined by renowned water scientist Dr Ian Wright and Wild Magazine Editor James McCormack stumbled onto a major pollution event this voice grew louder and is now the subject of a court case.

“Coal Creek” is the latest documentary by Illawarra based impact film maker James O’Connor. James is the man behind the lens for recent coal mine docs including “Mining The Blue Mountains” (which has won international awards and massed over 25,000 YouTube views) and “The People Against Russel Vale Mine”.
"Coal Creek" placed 2nd at the 2024 Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival