RESIDENTS want the NSW government to block other coal mining projects after Premier Barry O'Farrell indicated he would kill off a controversial project on land owned by Eddie Obeid.
It comes as the directors of Cascade Coal sought to distance themselves from corruption allegations involving its Mt Penny project in the Bylong Valley.
Mr O'Farrell on Thursday said he would take into account matters of public interest when considering Cascade's application for a mining lease worth $1 billion.
That included evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which is investigating claims former mining minister Ian Macdonald rigged a 2008 tender process for coal exploration licences to benefit Mr Obeid.
It also heard the Obeid family took a secret stake in Cascade Coal.
A spokesman for Cascade Coal said the company's directors were concerned about the activities outlined at the ICAC.
But Cascade Coal and its directors had at all times acted in good faith and were not involved in any corrupt conduct, he said, "and on the relevant evidence, were misled and deceived by other parties".
The ICAC is also probing the Yarrawa Coal project by Loyal Coal and the Doyles Creek project by NuCoal Resources at Jerrys Plains.
Lock The Gate Alliance Hunter regional coordinator Steve Phillips called on Mr O'Farrell to block those projects as well.
"They have been forced onto unsuspecting and unwilling local communities through a dodgy process that is now the subject of one of the most far-reaching investigations in ICAC history," he said.
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