Planet Erland

Curled up inside a steel box on a set of coal train tracks in the NSW Hunter Valley, with music blaring through his air vent, a lone activist tried to keep his thoughts on lunch.

Despite the discomfort, Erland Howden said he had volunteered for the planned three-day stunt to disrupt coal production at BHP Billiton’s Mt Arthur Coal mine and to expose the bid by mining giants to “dodge” a proposed carbon tax.

“It’s quite a small box, so it’s definitely a confined space,” 25-year-old Mr Howden told AAP from inside the box, several hours into the protest on Wednesday.

“I’ve got some muesli for the morning, basic stuff, really, and I’ve got a few blocks of chocolate to keep my energy up,” he said, above the din of music he said police were playing to flush him out.

Mr Howden’s box was kitted out for a prolonged siege, with a solar panel, insulation and a toilet, as well as sandwiches for lunch.

Marked “Pollution Tax Collection Point”, the box was secured to the rail tracks servicing Mt Arthur Coal, BHP Billiton’s largest Hunter Valley coal mine, near Muswellbrook.

Greenpeace says the mine, which shipped 12.4 million tonnes of coal in 2010, valued at $112 per tonne, would be able to cover the proposed carbon tax with just three days of production based on a carbon price of $26 per tonne.

“They operate 365 days a year, so we view that [the rail track disruption] as a small fraction of their operation,” said Greenpeace Climate Campaign head Trish Harrup.

But by late Wednesday afternoon, the box had been removed, the coal line was back up and running, and Mr Howden was in custody, ending his planned three-day protest.

Four of his fellow environmentalists were also arrested and charged over the protest, a NSW police spokeswoman said.

Ms Harrup, who was among those charged with trespass, was surprised at how quickly the specially built box had been detached.

“There we were, with what we thought was a deluxe box, and it only took them six hours to get it off the track,” she said.

Mr Howden claimed earlier that local police had first tried to flush him out of the box by playing loud pop music.

“The police have also put a big speaker near my vent into the box so it’s a little bit hard to hear,” he told AAP.

BHP Billiton spokeswoman Samantha Stevens said the safety of company staff and the public was the “highest priority” for Mt Arthur Coal.

“We don’t condone any activities by groups or individuals that could potentially put people at risk,” she told AAP.

While he never got a chance to eat his packed breakfast, Mr Howden said he did manage the peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.