Exclusive: Leaders warn damage to artwork at Dendrobium coalmine in NSW could be a ‘second Juukan Gorge’

Sydney is among the few cities anywhere in the world to allow mining within its water catchment areas. Scientists have argued for years that the longwalls were causing cracks to reach the surface, diverting water away from some of the 1,000 upland swamps in the Woronora plateau and reducing inflows into nearby dams.