FORMER Woodlawn miners finally have "closure" after securing the last of their entitlements from Collex during a rain-swept community celebration of the new Bioreactor near Tarago on Friday.
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The entitlements, which totalled $6.5 million, were paid by the Bioreactor operator as part of the Deed of Company Arrangement with the administrator of the former mine owner, who entered bankruptcy in 1998.
The mine was shutdown in March of that year.
Collex agreed to pay the entitlements in instalments as the Woodlawn Bioreactor project passed through developmental stages and became operational.
Friday's instalment represented a final payment of about $3m to 160 former employees.
"It is great that this has finally come to an end and we can get our money, which for a long time we didn't think we would get," said former miner, Perry Herden.
"It's great to have closure on the whole thing and it is a win-win situation."
He was pleased that Collex was committed to fixing up the damage to the environment that was caused by the mining operation. "The rehabilitation work is going to be taken over by Collex too, so taxpayers won't have to pay that bill."
Another former miner, Brian Soley, added that it was good to move on.
Collex's public affairs manager, Paul Zagami, said the company was proud to honour the ethical debts created by the former mine's operators.
He said Collex recognised three legacies arising from the collapse of the mine including: the loss of local jobs, paying the unfunded workers' entitlements and rehabilitation of the mine site.
"All of our employment requirements have been taken up by locals where possible, we have paid the workers' entitlements, and we are progressing with the rehabilitation of the mine site," Mr Zagami said.
He said Woodlawn was now delivering on a number of technical and environmental improvements to the management of Sydney's waste, including the first use in Australia of rail for putrescible waste transport.
"This has reduced up to 60,000 truck movements on Sydney's roads," Mr Zagami said.
Collex hosted Friday's "celebration" in recognition of the re-opening of the mine, the commencement of Woodlawn Bioreactor operations, the final payment of former Woodlawn employees' entitlements, and the contribution of the Tarago and Goulburn communities to these achievements.
The Woodlawn Bioreactor commenced operations on September 6 this year.
It will receive up to 400,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste via rail from Sydney every year for conversion into around 20 megawatts of green energy.
The Bioreactor is employing around 20 people in operational, administrative and driving positions, all of whom come from the local area or are former Woodlawn employees.
If a 50 megawatt windfarm also proposed for Woodlawn gains State Government approval, Woodlawn will be one the largest green energy sites in NSW, producing around 300,000 megawatt hours per annum and heating, cooling and powering about 35,000 homes.