An appeal by conservation group Coast and Country against environmental approvals for the Alpha Coal Project in central Queensland has been dismissed in Queensland’s Supreme Court.
The decision was welcomed by mine proponent GVK Hancock, which described it as a “great day for Queensland”.
“We are pleased the court has clearly ruled that our project has continued to follow and comply with all regulatory and legal processes,” a spokesman said. “We can now get on with taking the next step towards creating thousands of jobs for the region and state.”
Coast and Country had challenged the assessment of the climate change impacts of the proposed 30-million-tonne-a-year mine in the Galilee Basin.
At the one-day appeal hearing on June 7, Coast and Country’s lawyers presented what they described as a highly specific legal case about how the impacts in Queensland from the burning of coal from the mine are to be assessed under Queensland law.
“Our client said, as a matter of law, the impact of the burning of fossil fuels from the Alpha mine should not be disregarded, or given zero weight, because other mines may cause similar impacts if the Alpha mine is refused,” Environmental Defenders Office Queensland CEO Jo-Anne Bragg said.
“The argument that coal from other mines would replace the environmental damage of Alpha coal if it did not go ahead is known as the ‘substitution argument’.
“It is used by coal mines to avoid responsibility for the consequences of their actions. We said, as a matter of law, they are responsible for the consequences of their actions, regardless of what others may do.
“Our clients were disappointed in the decision. They are here to clarify the law regarding the protection of the Great Barrier Reef and environment through the legal system. We will carefully read the judgement to see the reasoning of the Court of Appeal.”
In February 2013 Coast and Country objected to the grant of the mining lease (ML) and environmental authority (EA) for the project in the Queensland Land Court due to the impacts of the project on groundwater, climate change and economics. A number of Jericho and Alpha landholders, including Paola Cassoni, Bruce and Annette Currie, and Paul and Janiece Andersen also objected.
In April 2014, the Land Court found that “given the unsatisfactory nature of the evidence relating to groundwater, good reason has been shown for a refusal to grant the mining lease”. The Land Court recommended that the ML and EA either be refused or subject to additional groundwater conditions.
In August 2014, after considering the Land Court recommendation, the Environment Minister granted the EA for the project.
Coast and Country challenged some aspects of the Land Court’s decision, including whether it had properly considered emissions from the burning of coal, and also challenged the decision of the Environment Minister to grant the EA.
The Supreme Court dismissed the applications for Judicial Review on 4 September 2015, but recognised the Land Court had considered the emissions from the burning of coal as part of the consideration of the public interest – yet gave no weight to those emissions due to the factual finding that the emissions of the product coal would be substituted by another project elsewhere if this mine did not proceed.
This was a significant finding, which clarified for the first time in the Supreme Court, that emissions from the burning of coal were relevant in the assessment of coal mines in Queensland.
Following it, Coast and Country lodged the appeal in Queensland’s Court of Appeal on October 2, 2015.
In its ruling today, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal to the previous decision of the Land Court, as well as an appeal to the granting of the Environmental Authority for the proposed Alpha coal mine.
This judgement combines the second and third court ruling in favour of Hancock’s suite of environmental assessments for the Alpha Coal Project.
The legal challenge did not involve landholders in the region, only the Coast and Country conservation group.
Water concerns remain
Jericho landholders Bruce and Annette Currie watched the Coast and Country appeal with interest, in the hope that the mine will be stopped one way or another.
“Our concerns still exist in a big way,” Bruce said after the judgement.
“The previous state government giving statutory water rights to miners was a big worry for us, and then the Land Court recommendation was ignored and the environmental approvals were given.
“If the appeal had been upheld, it might have given us some comfort.
“It doesn’t matter how the mine is stopped but it needs to be, or 8500 square kilometres of ground water will be impacted, based on GVK Hancock’s own evidence.”
Hancock says the development of the Alpha Coal Project will create 5000 jobs during around three years of construction, and over 2000 long-term jobs during the 30+ years of operations.
“To date, we have invested tens of millions of dollars and thousands of man hours assessing, planning and engaging with communities to reach the point of achieving approvals, which included around 300 collaborative scientific studies, involving over 500 specialist consultants.
“As we continue advancing our projects to a point where construction can commence we will continue meeting every regulatory requirement that is asked of us.
The next steps involve continuing to work with government to meet specific requirements that will allow for the grant of the Mining Lease for the Alpha Coal Project.
Once approvals are finalised we will execute coal offtake agreements with customers and finalise all financing arrangements in preparation for the commencement of construction.”